The Beautiful Cupid

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Chapter 1

Harry Styles could’ve had it all. If anything, he had it all. There were perks of being a member of the UK’s biggest boy band, and he was aware of them. He knew how to please fans; he knew how to handle all the attention; he knew how to have fun as one of the country’s hottest heartthrob. It was as if he knew it all, until he came across someone who didn’t particularly like his popularity.

“You need to snap out of it, mate,” He heard someone say, clearing his thoughts. Whipping his head around to look at where the cheery voice came from, he found a witty blonde laying on the couch, who was no other than Niall Horan. “You know she made it clear that she’s not very fond of your fans… Or your popularity… Or your schedule…” With his friend’s teasing, Harry’s eyebrows immediately knitted, as the blonde continued, “Or you, really.”

“The hell is your point?” Harry snapped, getting up from his own chair. Until that point, he regretted telling Niall about his encounter with a certain someone. How could’ve he had known the girl was too difficult for a catch? Heck, how could’ve he had guessed that there existed a girl who didn’t find him attractive?

Niall let out a carefree chuckle, getting up from the couch himself. “What’s so special about Chloe? Just when I thought you were the master when it comes to women…”

“I am, alright,” Harry snorted, rolling his eyes. “She just doesn’t know me yet. It’d be much easier if we had a mutual friend or some sort, but no, we don’t.”

Shaking his head lightly, Niall then casually grabbed his Macbook, opening Safari. “Well, if you were a smart lad like me you would’ve thought of making a background check first,” he teased, giving Harry a cheeky wink.

“What? You’re not going to cyber stalk her are you?” Harry asked, demanding a quick answer.

Niall, however, just ignored him, while mumbling a few words. “Chloe… London based… Friends with some blonde who’s obsessed with us…”

Harry sighed, covering his head with his palms. He was never like this. He had only seen Chloe once, at one of their shows, and it was pure luck that he even managed to get her name. One thing he knew for sure, she wasn’t a fan of One Direction. She quite disliked them, in fact, but ended up going to their gig due to her friend’s force.

“Found her!” Niall shouted, before turning the laptop screen facing Harry’s glistening blue-green eyes.

Chloe Adlington.

~~~~~

Chloe Adlington found her small encounter with One Direction surreal. She hadn’t expected that day, where Rebecca practically dragged her to their gig, to end up with Harry Styles asking for her name. Yes, Harry Freaking Styles.

She decided she wasn’t going to act like an obsessive fan that would just push him away and ended up coming off like a total introvert. She wasn’t one, though. In fact, she was one of the most popular girls in school, whom all boys adore and whose looks are envied by the girls. So it wasn’t much of a surprise that even one of the UK’s biggest boyband member landed his eyes on her.

Still, she regretted playing too hard to get. She didn’t know what came to her, and most importantly, she didn’t know why she was deep into her thoughts as she played with the tips of her blonde hair, when she should be helping her lab partner disect a frog. Right, what was her name again?

“Ugh.” Chloe finally let out, rubbing her temples. She had to set her mind off One Direction but before she knew it, she turned to face her lab partner, her chin placed on her palm.

“Hey Scarlett, what do you think of One Direction?”

~~~~~

Scarlett. Scarlett. Did Chloe Adlington just call her Scarlett?

“The name is Skylar, actually. Skylar Gibson.” Skylar sheepishly retorted, running her fingers through her long dark locks. Her cold reply certainly shocked Chloe a little, as she then tensed a little bit before twirling her manicured finger around her blonde hair again.

“Right, Skylar. Sorry, it’s just we haven’t really talked since you came and,”

“True, but I’ve been your lab partner for a year now,” Skylar interrupted, a grin on her face. “It’s not a big deal really, I don’t expect people to know my name.” she continued, meaning every word she said.

Unlike Chloe, she was far from being close to well-known at school. She did receive boys’ attention thanks to her long legs and eyelashes, but she never strived to be a popular girl to begin with.

That’s why she was rather shocked when Chloe Adlington greeted her out of the blue, even if the topic revolved around a boy band.

“Well, sorry again.” Chloe fumbled, “but anyways, back to my question, what do you think of One Direction?”

Skylar chuckled, startled by how eager Chloe wanted her to answer. Scribbling a few notes on her paper, she then shrugged, “They’re pretty fit if you ask me.”

“I know right!” Chloe snapped her fingers. Skylar looked up to examine her face and see whether she was one of their obsessed fans or not, but Chloe was covering her mouth, looking as though she was holding in giggles.

Raising her eyebrows nonchalantly, Skylar focused back on her work. Now that Chloe had asked her the question, pictures of the boyband began appearing in her mind. And as she had said before, they were indeed really goodlooking.

Her thoughts were then disturbed as Chloe gave her elbow a nudge, before shyly whispering, “Who’s your favourite?”

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Chapter 2

“Who’s your favourite?”

Skylar almost burst into fits of laughter, realising how keen Chloe was talking about this subject. She was now completely facing her, her green eyes demanding an answer.

“Erm,” Skylar finally began, tapping the table with her pen. “I can’t decide, actually. But I guess it would be a tie between the tanned skin one and the one with curly hair?”

Skylar could’ve sworn she saw Chloe’s face drop at the mention of the two boys. Wrong answer? After a moment of silence, she was just about to ask who Chloe’s favourite was, before finally hearing Chloe speak again.

“Harry! Oh wow, he’s the popular one isn’t he?”

Slightly laughing, Skylar shrugged. She wouldn’t know. Let alone some boyband, she didn’t know half the things going on her school. Not academic wise of course, but general things normal teenagers go through: school drama; school gossip; or school’s couples. Unlike most girls who’d do anything to get a hold of the latest news, Skylar just didn’t bother.

The bell finally rang, indicating it was time for what Skylar had been looking forward to all day: home. Lazily standing up as she packed her things into her bag, she felt Chloe’s green eyes piercing her, demanding attention yet again. Skylar then looked up, raising an eyebrow as well as forming a smile, “Yeah?”

Chloe immediately tilted her head, shocked that Skylar had noticed her staring. “Oh, nothing. I wasn’t aware of how cool you were, Skylar.”

Skylar paused for a minute, contemplating to decide whether she should consider that as a compliment or not. In the end, however, she gave Chloe another smile, muttering a small “Thanks,” before exiting the class room.

~~~~~

Harry let out a cough, as he pulled the hood of his jumper tighter, covering his trademark brown locks. He was now standing by the gate of a private school, missing his lunch break, hiding behind a tree. If only Niall hadn’t provoked him by saying he needed to get laid, he wouldn’t have snapped and took the nearest taxi downtown.

Clearly, the Irish lad really knew how to get into his head. Niall had been taunting him the other day about how he was never going to see Chloe again, unless he had gone for desperate measurements. Harry later found out Niall’s definition of ‘desperate measurements’ was to ‘stalk her during school time and make sure you look as normal as possible in your Flasher disguise’.

“Damn you Niall,” Harry muttered under his breath, shoving his hands down his pockets. There was still no sign of Chloe, eventhough he had already entered the school area at this point, and Harry couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d manage to muster the courage if she ever appeared. Would she even remember who he was? Of course she would you fool, you’re Harry Styles, he quickly thought, shaking his head.

Almost suddenly, a crowd of girls appeared behind the entrance door, wearing light blue shirts and plated dark blue skirts. Following them, appeared another crowd of boys blended in, wearing the same style of shirt and beige pants along with black blazers. Harry couldn’t help but wonder how it felt like attending the school.

He knew they had to be posh, seeing most girls were using Louis Vuitton’s as their school bags, and he was beginning to wonder whether it was the right choice to come all the way here at the first place. Sure, Chloe Adlington was dropdead gorgeous; somehow intriguing; and not to mention, model material, but what if she had an obnoxious personality? Or even worse, what if she was taken?

Harry cursed his ability to get attached easily. Wow, what was he thinking? He was in One Direction, for crying out loud, why the heck was he desperate over some girl? He was just about to turn around, until he recognised a very familiar figure. The wavy blonde hair, the green orbs. Chloe Adlington, surrounded by a couple of her guy friends.

Without him knowing why exactly, his fists were beginning to clench, his head down. Why was he feeling jealousy? Who was he to even go here? He didn’t know what to do: he felt extremely humiliated; confused; stupid, and angry. All he could think about was to literally give Niall a lesson for getting into his damn head. Furiously turning around, he felt a smack on his chest, followed by an object almost tripping his feet.

Upon the sudden accident, Harry immediately looked down, noticing a tall, slim figure almost laying on the floor. Automatically, he snapped a small “Fuck!” as he offered a hand, only to be ignored. Harry had almost expected the girl to break down crying, or give him a death glare, but she did nothing as such. Instead, she began standing up, rubbing her elbows once she was all settled.

He couldn’t help but notice the bruise he had caused on her porcelain skin, and truth be told, he didn’t dare observing her face, due to two reasons: she was slightly scaring him; her brown hair was covering half of her face. “Are you okay?”

“Delightful, thank you for asking,” she muttered in a very sarcastic tone, yet oddly enough, gave him a warm grin. He hadn’t noticed her face until this point, and he couldn’t help but admire how she actually looked. Before he knew it, he was already comparing her to Chloe. She had dark straight hair, and a light shade of brown as her eyes. Her eyelashes were extremely long, causing her already beautiful eyes to pop up.

He began to feel slightly uncomfortable as her stare deepened, and that was when it all sunk in. He had managed to observe her in details because he no longer had his sunglasses on. Just then, the girl slowly tilted her head to the side, “Who are you?”

Chapter 3

Harry could’ve had sworn he felt his heart do multiples of backflips upon the sudden question. How could he have been so stupid to begin with, taking his sunglasses of? Shoving his hands casually inside his chinos’ pockets, he shrugged, “A visitor.”

The girl let out a sarcastic scoff at his reply, before running her fingers through her hair. Finally, she began, “Right. Now why would a celebrity be a ‘visitor’ at this kind of place?”

She was without a doubt the weirdest girl he had ever come across with. She had just asked him who he was, and now she already figured it out? With that, he raised his arms and began rubbing his temples with his fingers, trying to fathom what was going on.

The girl, on the other hand, just crossed her arm, chuckling. “Alright. I know who you are. Now what I’d like to know is what exactly you’re doing here.”

Harry rolled his eyes, before looking up at the sky. “You know what I’d like to know: why do I have to tell you?”

“Did you just ask me that?” the girl retorted, letting out a carefree laugh. “Let me break it down to you, Mr One Direction member whose name I really can’t remember at the moment,” she said, half shrugging, “one, my life is basically a bundle of boredom so I am easily interested in things. Two, I can easily shout out ‘One Direction’ but hey hey, you don’t want that, do you?”

~~~~~

Skylar regretted telling Chloe the ‘curly haired one’ was her favourite. Never in her life had she thought she would ever randomly bump into him, but here she was, getting into his nerves.

She really would’ve had let him go, except she found herself failing to resist the urge of asking him what was going on. She knew it wasn’t her business and if someone was to do the same thing to her she would literally whoop their bum, but another part of her told her not to care. He was, a member of One Direction, after flipping all.

She was slightly taken aback when he laughed at her latest statement. She knew he was going to at some point, but she thought it was going to be a sarcastic one. This however, sounded like a genuine laugh. “You’ve got some nerves don’t you?” He finally said, crossing his arms this time. “But if you’re so interested, then yes, I wasn’t lying about the visitor part.”

“Let me guess,” she paused. “A girl?”

Skylar was aware of how obnoxious she must’ve had been, but she was not going to deny it either, she somehow enjoyed the very random and sudden conversation with the curly haired boy. And oddly enough, he didn’t seem to mind much either.

He remained humming, however, looking as though he was contemplating whether to tell her or not, which she completely understood. She then slung the other strap of her backpack over her shoulder, and said, “I’m taking another wild guess. You’re looking for either Sophie Flynn or… Chloe Adlington.”

Yet again, the curly boy remained silence, except his jaw tensed. She knew it was either one of the two, and she was also aware of exactly why. She then glanced over, suddenly losing interest in the conversation, before noticing a blonde tip right over the hedges.

“I’d better go-” she finally began, realising he was not going to reply in the near future before getting interrupted by a “How’d you know?”

She tilted her head, kicking some pebbles on the ground with her grey laced Vans. “Everyone looks for them.” she casually muttered under her breath. She then ran her fingers through her hair again, an old habit of hers, whilst taking a few steps back. “I’d better go now. And tell Lightbulb his camouflage isn’t working,” she teased, bobbing her head to the hedge.

The boy whipped his head around almost within a minute, looking rather paranoid, and all Skylar could catch was a burst of giggles, as she was already heading to the building. It was nice to have unexpected meetings.

Chapter 4

Harry grimaced upon realising who the ‘Lightbulb’ was. Chuckling to himself, he found the girl’s wit to be quite funny, as he reminisced the moment where Niall finally had to get his roots redyed, and how he kept on swearing about how much his scalp burnt. Harry then casually approached the bushes, and after standing only a mere few inches from the ‘Lightbulb’, he raised his arm and gave the boy’s blonde head a slight smack.

Niall immediately jolted up, rubbing his head intensely, “Well thank you for that, Styles!” He cried, wincing. Harry on the other hand, found it amusing, as he shove his right hand back to his pocket. “What are you doing here, Lightbulb?” He nonchalantly mumbled, emphasising on the newly found nickname.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Harry,” Niall growled, throwing his arms in the air, annoyed. “Contrary to your narcissistic belief, you’re really not all that when it comes to women.”

Exaggerating his dropped jaw expression, Harry shot a disbelief look at him, “Is that so? Tell me mate, whenever we login Twitter, who receives the most ‘get in my pants’ tweets?” he continued, making air quotes, leaving the Irish lad irritated.

Harry was aware of how cheeky he could get, and he sincerely thanked his members for their understanding. It didn’t come much as a surprise when he soon was labelled the cheekiest and the flirt of the group, and the fact that many tabloids would have an article in regards of his random hookup at every party did not do him justice.

He never meant to leave such an impression, though. It could really get in the way of having an actual proper relationship. He really did believe that girls should be treated very well, but in what world would a 17 year old boy say “No” to bubbly, big boobed girls who would gladly throw themselves all over them?

His wandering thoughts were then interrupted as Niall jumped over the bush. The blonde then stood up straight, as he pulled the hood of his blue Hollister jumper over his head. Giving Harry a puzzled look, he then asked, “Question. Did Chloe Adlington dye her hair or were you already talking to some other girl earlier?”

Harry laughed lightly, before finally shaking his head. “Nah man, we just.. somehow.. stumbled.. upon a conversation-starter-occurance,” he mumbled to himself as he scratched his head, “yeah.”

“A well is she Chloee Adlington’s fwend o sumfin?” Harry heard Niall say, and as he turned his head he already found the boy mumbling while munching down a cheeseburger which had somehow magically appeared. Bursting out in laughter, Harry quickly snatched the food away, inspecting it as if it was Liam’s used socks. “When the hell did we go to McDonald’s?” he asked, as Niall snatched it back.

“Dhis was from Saturday, fawnd it in my hoodie pockhet. Lucky eh?” he finally replied, as he finished the rest in one bite. Meanwhile, Harry rolled his eyes, as he typed in a text to their manager to pick them up.

After finishing his leftover, Niall snapped his fingers, as if a brilliant idea had just popped in his head. “You should ask for the girl’s help. To find out more about Chloe Adlington.”

Upon his friend’s sudden plan, Harry rolled his eyes, as he placed his palm on his forehead. “For crying out loud Niall, you’re one to talk. I came out all the way here, leaving my dignity at home, only to find the girl I’d been constantly fantasising about to be a total popular girl,” he then sighed, feeling as girly as any girl could possibly feel, even though he was ranting about a girl.

“And what’s so bad about that?” Niall shot back. “Isn’t that the type of girls you always strike for, mate?”

Normally Harry would’ve had let that go, considering that there was still truth behind what Niall had just said. Despite finding Chloe to be extremely stunning, he also found himself wondering what made him like her so much. He didn’t know her so well, let alone at all. After each minute spent on considering Niall’s plan, the idea of using the girl he had just come across seemed more and more ideal.

He then came to one decision.

He needed to know her name.

Chapter 5 part I

Skylar sighed, as she dragged her tiny feet whilst climbing each step of the marble stairs. She wasn’t exactly over the moon, as a feeling of emptiness hit her again once she stepped on the pathway of her massive mansion. Once in front of her bedroom, she opened the door widely, before practically throwing herself on the bed, laying flat.

Her bedroom was her personal sanctuary. The calming white wallpaper; the comfy queen size bed; and of course, the high speed internet, always looked as if they genuinely welcomed her. It wasn’t long though, until her silence was interrupted, by a certain little girl.

“Skyyyyy!” she heard almost immediately, before quickly covering her head with a pillow. “We’re still up for Friday night, yeah? Mum said you promised! You did promise, yeah?”

Skylar thanked IKEA for their pillows as what seemed to be her little sister’s screaming, sounded blur. She savoured another minute of calmness, before wincing at her bum. “Why did you just slap my bum!” she finally shouted, getting up from the bed.

The petite figure soon skipped away, running from her grip, whilst bursting into fits of giggles. If it wasn’t for her adorable smile, Skylar would’ve had found the little girl to be a devil in disguise.

It wasn’t easy, dealing with traumatising issues such as the split of parents at the age of 13, so it surprised Skylar how well she managed. She still remembered that exact Sunday, where her mum came home with a man and a little girl, who would turn out to be her future family. Sobbing hysterically, she held on to her nana’s grip, not wanting to accept that her biological father was not coming back, and that everyone had moved on. Everyone but her.

But there she was, standing in front of Summer, her half little sister, extremely irritated. She firmly grabbed the little girl, whilst trying to be as gentle as she possibly could, and sat her down on her bed.

“Now, I promise I won’t be mean,” she began, rubbing the little girl’s arms, “but I won’t listen to you if you just barge into my room and shout at my ears, okay?”

Almost inaudibly, Summer slowly nodded.

“Good, now you were asking about the concert, right?” Skylar whispered slowly, dreading the idea of spending her Friday night babysitting her little sister. Not that she ever had any other plans, but the horrifying fact that she was going to a Justin Bieber concert with a 6 year old sister was able to make her shit herself.

Chapter 5 part II

Harry had his palms on his stomach, whilst laying on the couch, as he tried to resist the urge to burst into fits of laughter consecutively. It was just an usual Thursday night, and the boys were gathered at the living room, watching The Hangover 2. Truth be told, he missed movie nights at cinemas and its perks, but having 4 other lads by his side sure came in handy.

Louis was just impersonating one of the character’s expression, Alan, when Niall barged in the room out of nowhere, almost sprinting.

“Have a wild guess of what I’m holding!” Niall screamed, his actions reminded Harry of the fangirls just outside their current flat.

With his expression flat, unamused by how his impersonation was interrupted by Niall’s entrance, Louis sat down on the couch again. “It’s not a wild guess if you’ve already told us about it. Over, and over, and over again.” He then muttered, followed by chuckles from the rest of the boys.

“Ha, well, just in case anyone forgot,” Niall began, snapping his fingers, “I have managed to get my hands on 5 Justin Bieber VIP tickets! And no boys, you don’t have to thank me, because I got them for free.”

Harry had no idea how Niall had expected them to react, but his light blue eyes widened as soon as the rest of the boys began to moan. Niall then pulled a face, before raising his arms in agony, “Fuck’s sake guys, whatever happened to our Bieber Fever?”

“It never existed?” Zayn scoffed, getting up from his armchair. As a womaniser, who spent his nights, be it weekdays or weekends, mingling with girls or having actual fun in general, he clearly found this less exciting.

He was just heading to the kitchen before Niall finally spoke up yet again, clearing his throat, “Well, if it means anything to you guys, remember the bet a few days ago?”

The boys then groaned, realising what Niall had meant.

~~~~~

Skylar tapped her pastel flatshoes against the ground, tempted to leave. There she was, standing on a long queue, her palm sweaty due to the tight grip of her ecstatic little sister. The never ending snake of screaming girls was driving her nuts, and if it wasn’t for her mum sparing a day off to be with them, it wouldn’t have had counted as a concert. More like babysitting.

“Isn’t this great? You, me and Summer, having a girls’ day out?!” her mum almost cried frantically, whipping her arms around.

Most teenagers would’ve preferred anything over going to a public place, let alone a Justin Bieber concert, with their overly exited parents, but Skylar found it rather amusing. She chuckled, whilst slowly grabbing her mum’s arms before she hit anyone. “Yes, Mum. I never thought you were a Bieber fan though.”

Mrs. Gibson let out a carefree laugh, one that caused her deep dimples to appear. Skylar had always wished she had them, and had probably spent years of her childhood digging coins to her cheeks, in hopes she too, would have them. The thought of dimples suddenly brought a flashback involving one certain curly haired boy, and Skylar immediately shook her head.

She knew her mother was going to ask what was wrong, and since she was not planning to tell her about the encounter she had with some boyband heartthrob, she quickly asked if she could see the tickets.

Skylar’s jaw dropped, as if her heart had just done a summersault, and she then looked up, demanding confirmation from her mother: “You got us VIP tickets?!”

Chapter 6

Entering the grand concert arena, Skylar found herself getting more and more anxious, as they approached the VIP area. Having a quite prestigious background, she wasn’t supposed to feel foreign with all this, but there she was, practically clinging onto her mum’s arm whilst her sister clung onto hers.

When the door to the VIP area finally opened, Skylar felt more relieved, as her gaze fell upon the crowd. She’d been so naive to think she was going to be in an area with plutocrats’ daughters or celebrities, and she felt relaxed now that she noticed the purple screaming crowd.

She then smoothed down her beige high-waisted shorts, fathoming the fact that today was not going to be such a bad day after all.

Just then, the entrance to the VIP lounge, widened, followed by a few screaming girls. Skylar was oblivious to what was going on, but remained silence. She tried to take a peek of what caused the sudden scream, but managed to see nothing. She then grabbed Summer’s tiny hand, and gripped it gently, before whispering in her ear, “We’re going to have a good time tonight, yeah?” to which her sister replied with an eager nod. Little did she know, she had spoken too soon.

~~~~~

Harry smirked, running his fingers through his curls, before striking one of his trademark smile. They had just arrived at the concert arena, and as expected, photographers had already been squarming everywhere. Going to a Justin Bieber concert was definitely a good move for their career, seeing Simon had even arranged a 5 minute chatting session with the young pop sensation. Niall was going to love this.

Thinking about the blonde Irish lad, Harry found it irritating how they had even agreed on forcing Niall to chug 10 bottles of beer, but they had to do something for him in return. Harry could’ve had been staying at their flat, instead of being here.

Their manager, Preston, soon decided the photographers had enough pictures and began shoving One Direction inside, whilst trying to whisper to Harry. “Alright boy, Justin may not exactly be your cup of tea, but this is a good thing. You can learn from him.” the petit man began as he tiptoed and pat Harry’s shoulder. “Plus there are about other 50 pretty girls inside there. You’re going to have a good time.”

Ha, the Pretty Girls card. Harry found it amusing how determined Preston was to keep them happy 24/7, yet often failing to do so. He didn’t see why the blunt manager was even making sure they were fine. It was just a Justin Bieber concert, simple as. He and the lads had no trouble with it, excluding one blondie who was particularly ecstatic. ..They just, perhaps, wished they could do something else on a Saturday night.

Once in the VIP area, with Preston’s palm still plastered on his shoulder, Harry was rather glad they received attention from the Beliebers. Not that he ever doubted the One Direction Infection, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t find watching the concert with other fans risky. He then shook his head aimlessly, whilst calmly inhaling. He needed to keep his cool.

Before he knew it, the rest of the lads had already gone to their seats, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Suddenly feeling a nudge on his forearm, Harry whipped his head around, looking straight at Niall, who was fanning himself with a small poster given by a fan. “Ey mate, I think I just saw someone familiar,” he said in a tiny voice.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

“I dunno her name,” Niall responded, slightly pausing. “Heck, I dunno her!”

The curly boy then frowned, realising his friend was probably referring to some fan he had once flirted with. Back in the day. With that, he headed to the seats before being stopped by Niall’s grip. “Ey wait. I remember her now, man.” he whispered, slightly pointing forward with his folded poster.

Harry’s eyes scanned the crowd, still as perplexed as ever.

But his thoughts became crystal clear once then spotted a certain brunette.

~~~~~

Skylar was all fine. She was finally getting air to breathe whilst her mother and sister were on about Justin Bieber’s new track, and she thanked home parties and dubstep shows for preventing her schoolmates from showing up at the concert.

Until, that is, she was startled by a sudden call.

“Oi!”

Leaping from her seat, Skylar immediately looked around. She never reacted well to surprises, especially not when she least expected them. She was just about to stand up, before getting poked on her lower side. “Here, you fool,” a voice then followed.

Tilting her head to the left, she was surprised by what she was looking at. Observing the very tip of his curls to his toes covered by perfectly polished combat boots, Skylar’s eyes then focused on the face, followed by the dimples.

Harry Styles.

She was not able to sink everything in to her system: The fact that Harry Freaking Styles had just appeared out of practically nowhere shouting “Oi” whilst poking her side.

“I need to talk to you,” was all she managed to catch, as a tight grip held on to her wrist, before swiftly turning her body around, heading to the exit door. It appeared there was more than One Direction that night.

Chapter 7

“Right, we first have to find somewhere quiet, preferably not filled with fangirls,” Harry Styles muttered under his breath, as his head turned left and right constantly, scanning for any quiet spot. He’d keep stealing glances from the figure next to him, looking slightly doubtful whilst he made sure he was not doing anything stupid. He reminded himself it was not stupid. It was not stupid, and it was necessary. He still had his palm around the girl’s wrist, something that was so mere, so casual, yet little did he know, managed to make her knees go weak.

It wasn’t the ‘Harry Styles’ of it. It wasn’t. It had just been quite a while since any boy had ever bothered to get this close to her, and even though she had no bloody idea of what was happening, she didn’t mind. As cliche as ever, however, she wanted to look as irritated as possible. “Alright, what’s up?” she finally looked up, her eyelashes batting, as if demanding an answer. She didn’t pull her arm away though. She let it be, somehow appreciating the fact that someone was holding on to her. Literally.

Harry looked down, as he bit his inner lip, doubtful again. He then broke into a chuckle, once aware how impulsive he was to drag some random girl, as if they were on an emergency rescue, when the truth was he only needed a small help. The girl in front of him did not look as amused, however. “Right, well just drag me out again later,” she said, before finally pulling her arm away. “When you remember what you needed from me.”

“What’s your name?”

She turned around, stunned. “Oh.. Skylar,” she said in a tiny voice, falling deeper into the pit of confusion. “And you’re Harry Styles,” she managed to pipe in, giving him the weirdest gesture comedians always use when cracking jokes. A smile was just about to form on his face, before he slightly shook his head, looking as unamused as ever.

He tried his best to keep the level of intensity flowing as he possibly could, while muttering her name a couple of times under his breath. He liked the sound of it, she was probably the only ‘Skylar’ he’d ever known. Not that he knew her, not yet. Looking back at her, after seemingly regaining his confidence, he smiled. “Well Sky, if you don’t mind me calling you that, as random as this could possible seem,” he began, taking steps closer to her. He didn’t know what the urge was: why he was so tempted to involve her. He didn’t know why he was being so impulsive, but still, he approached her. Taking one final breath, he finally spoke, “I need your help.”

Raising an eyebrow, she then crossed her arms. “Elaborate.”

“I need you to be my wingman.”

~~~~~

Skylar blinked a few times, as if trying to comprehend the foreign sentence Harry had just told her. She raised her arm, in hopes she could ensure what was going on. “Wingman? You want me to be your wingman?” she glanced up at him, who casually nodded in response. She did not know if things could get any more random, as she placed her fingers on her forehead, almost ready to facepalm herself. What is wrong with people nowadays?

Harry seemed to understand her confusion, as he awkwardly tried to get her attention by poking her shoulder. “I get it if it sounds extremely weird,” he mumbled, losing his confidence yet again, as the girl in front of him remained silent with her face covered. “I’m weird.” he shyly added, as he threw in his hands in his chino’s pockets.

She then raised her free left arm, her voice flat. “No no, I’ve seen weirder,” she shortly said. Sighing, she then let go off her face, as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Why me, though?!” she asked incredulously, looking as genuinely confused yet interested as anyone possibly could.

“Because you’re the only person I know .. who knows her.” He replied sheepishly, as he looked away, trying to avoid Skylar’s glance.

“We don’t,” was all she could say, as she knitted her eyebrows. “Know each other, I mean.”

Harry closed his eyes, realising how stupid he had sounded. “Ah yeah, I know, I know, but you see,” he paused, having all explanations wander inside his head yet not having the guts to say any of them. He then decided to just dive in and ramble on. “You go to her school and I was just casually admiring her from afar and shit and then you came and then Niall told me ‘Hey, she could help you!’ and then I thought, ‘Hey, she could help me!’ and so I decided to be really stupid and just drag you and—”

“You like someone from my school?” She abruptly cut in his fail attempt of an explanation, but her voice remained low. Harry was astonished by how calm she was, and how she was completely ignoring the fact he was pissing himself with anxiety. She didn’t look as shocked now, though her head was still tilted.

With that, he looked away yet again. “Yeah .. Yeah, I do.”

“Now why didn’t it cross my mind!” She exclaimed sarcastically, throwing her arms in agony, as if it was complete brand new information.

Harry laughed, amused by the way she acted. He admired how outgoing she was, despite however odd this occurrence was. She seemed slightly annoyed by how he liked someone from her school, however, which gave Harry a chance to be the cheeky lad that he was. Taking a step closer to her, he raised an eyebrow, “Do I detect jealousy?”

She immediately looked up, surprised. Harry had to admit, she managed to handle it well as she gave him a smirk, ready to play his game. “No, but do you detect a douche around here?”

He scoffed, “Hey, I’m not a douche!”

“Sure you aren’t,” she mumbled, as she placed her palms on her waist, staring into thin air. “I don’t see why you need my help though. However douchey you can be, you’re Harry Styles, and even the most popular girl in my school would not pass by that.”

“Why thank you,” he teased, before getting to her other point. “See, I don’t think this girl like the fact that I’m Harry Styles.”

Laughing lightly, Skylar shook her head, amused by Harry’s naive thought. “Are you talking about a girl from my school here? If yeah, then I can even tell who you’re into.”

Always in for a challenge, Harry raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?”

Skylar nodded boldly, before raising three fingers. “I have three guesses.”

“Do continue.”

She smirked. “She’s either: Holly Wright; Amy Waddams; or Chloe Adlington.” And as if on cue Skylar had expected, Harry immediately looked up, upon the mention of one certain girl.

Chapter 8

“You didn’t have to come.” Harry said, as he placed the two iced Caramel Machiattos on the coffee table, before finally sitting down one the khaki armchair.Grabbing the cold beverage, Louis casually shrugged. He then took a long sip of it, and as he rubbed his temple, he finally spoke, “I’m leaving in a bit anyway. I just wanted to see which poor girl you’re getting in trouble with.” Harry immediately looked up once he heard Louis’ remark, before knitting his eyebrows. “I’m not getting her in trouble,” he responded in a tiny voice. “She agreed to keep this to herself.”“And the reason you believe in her so much is, why?” Louis asked, as he fixed the hood placed above his auburn locks. He was acting completely cold, and Harry understood why Louis was so doubtful towards his plan. He had to admit, he still wasn’t sure about the entire thing himself. He found it rather surprising when Sky agreed to his plan that day, when he abruptly dragged her out of a concert. And truth be told, he still wondered what was the reason behind her frown when he finally confessed his embarrassing crush towards Chloe Adlington. He knew it was not jealousy, she didn’t know him at all. But that girl, Skylar Gibson, had this empty stare, when he had gone on about how mesmerizing Chloe’s blonde locks were.“Pull your hood higher,” Louis retorted, disturbing Harry’s current thoughts. “Your winggirl is here.” he added, almost in a whisper, before slowly getting up from the couch. He gave Harry one last squeeze on the shoulder, and reminded him how he had to keep things on the down low as possible, before exiting Starbucks.Doing exactly what Louis had just told him to, Harry reluctantly pulled his large hoodie over his head, so that none of his trademark curls were visible. He then turned around, to find the familiar figure standing by the counter. As he shifted in his seat, Harry took the opportunity to observe his future partner-in-crime, as she obliviously ordered her drink, unaware of him staring at her.If he hadn’t randomly stumbled upon her and needed her help, Harry still wished he would have somehow met Sky. He liked her spunk, and how she didn’t seem to care about much. And he wasn’t going to lie, she was not so bad in terms of looks either. Not as dreamy as Chloe, maybe, but her tall height and natural beauty did make her a model-material. And unlike just any girl he had ever met, Sky was .. Interesting. She was down-to-earth, but she could be straightup blunt when she wanted to. Despite however bland she often made herself look, she seemed to have a rather intriguing story. A story behind her straight expressions; raspy voice; and her cold personality.Before he realised how deep he had fallen into his observation, the girl he had just spent 2 minutes thoroughly thinking about casually sat on the armchair across him, her long legs casually crossed. Contrary to her usual expression, she had a warm smile plastered on her face.“Hi.”

~~~~~

It only took 10 minutes of chat with Harry Styles for Sky to realise how much fun she was having by just hanging out with him. She didn’t even mind the fact that the main topic of their conversation was another girl and that he looked extremely shy talking about her. She just longed being around someone outside school; someone you could be comfortable with. Maybe it was too soon, maybe it was random, but Sky did finally understand why Harry was the most popular member of One Direction.“Are you sure she’s single, though?” Harry muttered under his breath, doubt apparent in his husky voice, as he stirred the straw to his empty cup, hoping he could hide his anxiety. He had his back facing the main entrance of the coffee shop, and once Sky noticed a group of girls entering, she slowly began to stand up, her eyes still fixed on the entrance.Harry, looking puzzled, quickly looked up, his eyebrow raising, “Where are you going?”“We’ve got company.” she shortly said, slightly nodding at the direction of where the girls were chattering about. “I’ve seen on movies how things end when someone meets a famous popstar-” she quickly added, almost stuttering, whilst Harry tried to contain his laughter. She then raised a hand, trying to get his attention, “I think it’s time I save myself by going to the loo.”“No, wait,” he quickly responded, trying to grab the ends of her t-shirt, but the sound of the girls’ footsteps became more clear, and he knew it was too late. Almost immediately, he whipped his head around, and as he had expected, there stood 6 girls, all either holding a digital camera or their phones.

“Oh my God,” one of the girls finally said, taking the lead. “Can we please have a picture, Harry?” With that, Harry let out a deep breath, before finally standing up, a grin already apparent on his face. More girls soon gathered around, as a queue of screams and requests followed.“And can I have one after?”“Harryyyy can I have a cheeky kiss please?”“Holy, you’re so beautiful ..”“FUCK OH MY GOD GIRLS, IT’S HARRY STYLES!”

~~~~~

No one would’ve had thought the fans would soon disappear. If anyone had just entered Starbucks right when the crowd began to muster, they would’ve thought Harry had made a fansigning.But there he was, his hands in his chino’s pockets again, as he walked through the corridor leading to the loo. If he didn’t have his hood on he wouldn’t have received so many looks as he stood in front of the women’s door. He had tried to peek in, but Sky was nowhere to be seen. He had even developed a thought she was hiding in one of the tiny cubicles. Once it seemed as if no one else was inside, Harry firmly held the doorknob and opened the door wide, his head peering inside. “Sky?!” he exclaimed, hoping she could hear him.“Yeah?! Harry?!”“Stop shouting and get your bum here.” he retorted, crossing his arms. He had to admit, he found the way she acted completely hilarious. Who would’ve thought a cold girl like Skylar Gibson would be scared of a small mob of fans? Tapping his Vans lightly on the floor, he peeked in again. “All the fans have gone, Sky, you can come here now.” he said, as he leaned his side against the wall.There was complete silence, before he finally heard the friction of the floor against shoes’ soles. “This is too risky, I legit thought I was going to piss myself,” Sky whispered, almost inaudibly. Slightly laughing, Harry raised his hands, claiming his innocence. “Can’t help it, everyone wants a bit of Styles loving.”“Should we just meet up some other time? Or better yet, contact each other through Twitter or something.” she shyly suggested, and Harry could see how intimidated she was of the fans.“Are you scared they’d think we’re dating?” was all he could think of saying. It wasn’t always easy to corner Sky, but now that he had the chance, he was not going to miss the opportunity of completely driving her nuts.Scoffing, Sky looked up. She had an exaggerated offended expression, as she placed her palm on chest, shocked, “You don’t go to my school, Harry, you wouldn’t know how badly the One Direction Infection has hit the girls.”“If you think it’s too risky meeting in public, then we should go to your house.”Upon Harry’s idea, Sky immediately widened her eyes. She tilted her head, in hopes to receive some confirmation to his joke, but he never responded. He had his eyes fixed on hers, and his expression remained the same. He was serious.

Chapter 9

Harry bit his lower lip, as he awkwardly tapped his feet against the marble steps. He had his palm rubbing the back of his neck, whilst waiting for Sky to open the door.

Daring to look up slightly, he was amazed by the towering pillars that made up the foundation of the house he was in front of. He wasn’t even sure ‘house’ was the right term, as ‘mansion’ seemed much more appropriate. It was massive, and was divided into two wings, as it was in a shape of a U from a bird’s-eye-view. He wished he’d gone to some famous celebrity’s house, so that he could roughly compare their wealth to Sky’s family’s. He hadn’t, though, and the one time he visited someone’s house was Uncle Sy’s, and that did not count because he only brought him and the lads to his working apartment. For about 3 minutes now, the new friend of his had been struggling opening the dark brown mahogany door with the right key, giving time to observe more of is surroundings. Being the popular lad that he was, there was one particular thing that popped into his head when they’d arrived: “Do you host parties often?”

If Sky had been drinking when he’d asked that question, she would’ve burst out her drink in shock. Finally, she shook her head, still occupied with her keys.

That was enough for Harry to figure the entire puzzle. He’d always wondered how life for Sky was ever since Day 1, when he had randomly stumbled upon her whilst she was heading home alone. It only added further confusion when he found out she was in the same form as Chloe Adlington, but never actually befriended her. He’d even developed a theory that she could’ve perhaps been one of those bullied kids, waiting for the right day to seek revenge, before realising how idiotic the idea was, considering how blunt Sky was and how easily she could stand up for herself. Was she just not likeable in her Year?

“Well you should,” was all Harry could say, as she finally clicked the doorknob, opening the door.

Once inside, the layout of her interior house only startled Harry even more. He didn’t have much time to observe the living room, however, as he immediately followed Sky, who was rushing through the pitchblack corridor. “And I stand corrected,” he murmured, trying to ignore the fact they were going through something that characters in horror movies go through just before their death, “you should start hosting parties. They would be epic.” He’d hoped she would at least respond, but it took him awhile to realise she was not even around anymore. Utter silence took over, before he finally heard footsteps, eventually revealing Sky holding a small puppy. “Have I ever told you I had a puppy?”

Without further ado, Harry immediately grabbed the small yorkie, completely fascinated. He had a cat, back in Holmes Chapel, but he pretty much never played with her since all she did was sleep and eat. He was just about to ask the name of the furry friend, before Sky ignored him yet again and headed to the grand winder stairs. There was a small post-it note plastered on the handle, and after seemingly skimming through it, she tore it off and crumped it, before casually throwing it on the floor. “No one’s home until tomorrow.” she shortly said, climbing up.

Harry could’ve sworn she seemed much more elated before they’d gone here, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was a bad idea. He didn’t think it was a bad idea. It was nice to finally know something about your future partner-in-crime, and even if that meant knowing how filthy rich they are, be it. Slightly dragging his feet to the stairs, Harry couldn’t help but notice how empty the house was, and not because there were only literally 2 people in it. Just when he thought he had figured Skylar Gibson out, he was left wondering yet again.

~~~~~

“You have a lot of free time don’t you?”

Harry placed his feet on the rug, stopping the purple desk seat he was sitting on from twirling any further. “Excuse me?”

“You being at my house right now says a lot about you, don’t you think?” she joked, exiting the bathroom, something Harry had always wished for - his own bathroom. She had just changed into shorts and a baggy t-shirt, whilst her hair was now tied up in a lazy bun, not acknowledging the supposedly flattering fact that Harry Styles was at her house. She then plopped down on her bed, and brought her legs up, before finally folding them, and her head soon leaned against her knees. “Tell me again, Harry, why are you here?”

Laughing a little, Harry gently grabbed Coco, the puppy whose name he had just figured out, off the rug. “I thought we went over it,” he murmured under his breath, stroking the cute creature. “I’m completely head over heels for a girl who just so happens to be in your school.” He finally said, slightly surprised by his own statement. He just hoped Sky would stop with the repeating questions. The more he had to say it out loud, the more likely it was for him to sound extremely stupid. He had to admit, Chloe did occupy his mind most of the time, but he had never thought he’d gone to such desperate measures as asking for a random girl’s help. There were times where he’d feel extremely ridiculous about having a crush on her at the first place, but above all, the whole matchmaking thing Sky agreed to do for him did remind him of the things he used to do back home. The excitement; the urge to be as impulsive as possible, they reminded him of the short period where he got the chance to be a normal teenager.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“That’s because you haven’t done your job well enough to see it, numbnuts,” was all Harry could say, before finally letting the poor dog go. He could feel Sky’s doubts, and he wasn’t going to lie, he felt them too. With that, he stood up, before lining up for a belly whacker on her bed. He could feel her toes poking his sides, but he didn’t mind. After a short comfortable silence, he finally got up. “I know this whole thing seems stupid,” he began, “but if you ever think I’m just using you, then you’re just being blood silly because I’ve actually begun to consider you as a friend-“

Sky perked up almost instantly, and Harry went on, “and if I never liked Chloe, I would still be friends with you.”

“Hey, I never agreed to be your friend.” Sky mumbled in a flat face, before finally breaking into fits of laughter. She extended her arm and offered a fist bump, “Jokes. You’re my first.”

~~~~~

Harry pressed the bell to his and his bandmates’ flat constantly, before it finally swung open, revealing a yawning Niall with a glass of water in his hand. His usually perfectly placed blonde hair was now messy, and the usually gelled tips were wet. He had a exhausted look on his face, and Harry was left confused for the hundredth time that day before realisation took over his head. “Niall, it’s only 10 pm and you look like a mess. What shit did you get into?”

His blue eyes sparkled upon Harry’s accusation as he shrugged, “Cher had a party for releasing her track. The lads are still there except of me and a tipsy Louis.” he murmured under his breath, swinging the door even wider for Harry to enter. He had no clue Cher was hosting a party, and he couldn’t be bothered to care whether it was because he may have not even been invited at all, as he actually enjoyed staying in with Sky today. Heading to his bedroom lazily, he was ready to call it a day, before noticing the figure laying on his bed. “Get out of my room, Louis.”

“Oh would you look at that! It’s my homeboy Harryyyyyy!” Louis practically screamed, as he rolled his body before falling flat on the ground. Quickly getting up, he opened his arms wide, “Gimme a hug, love.”

Harry ignored the absurd request, as he took of his hoodie and placed it on the desk. “I’m tired, Lou. I can’t deal with you being drunk right now.”

“Aw why are you so tired?” Louis’ tone of voice immediately changed, as he engulfed Harry with a back hug. “What were you doing with Sky, ehhh?”

With Louis being right behind him, Harry noticed something odd. It took a moment before comprehension dawn in his mind, and with that he took a step away and turned around. “The fuck, you’re not even drunk. You smell nothing like alcohol mate, more like baby powder.” he exclaimed, leaving Louis laughing. “Dammit Harry, why you gotta be so smart?” he snorted, laying down on the bed again. “See, I thought I needed to act drunk for you to listen to me.”

“I can only listen to you when you have something to say. What’s up?” Harry yawned.

He honestly wasn’t in the mood to listen to any of Louis’ random rambling, but the serious look on his best friend’s mate meant something was really bothering him. Louis then got up, crossing his legs. He took one deep breath, as his grey eyes flashed under the dim yellow light of the small nightstand lamp, tempted to just say everything he had in mind but resisting the urge by trying to choose the words carefully. After a brief moment of silence, he finally looked up, and Harry was all ears. “That Skylar girl. I need you to stay away from her.”

Chapter 10

Sky bit her lip, contemplating whether to hit the Send button or not. There she was, helplessly laying on her bed, her phone never leaving her side for the past hour. Wiggling her toes due to the cool temperature given off by the AC, she let out a deep breath, bringing her phone closer to her face. She’d been really determined to “hook” Harry and Chloe up together, merely because he had put so much faith in her. She still found the entire wingman idea ridiculous, but she appreciated the trust he had given her. And plus, having this opportunity was interesting, and gave a touch to her normally boring life, despite however little involved she was to the actual story happening. Before she knew it, she felt her phone vibrating, as the hook of Jessie J’s Casualty of Love took over the room’s silence.

“‘Ello?” She murmured, followed by a rather loud response: “Skyyyy!” Getting up almost automatically, she recognised the deep voice on the other end of the line. Victor.

If Harry Potter had Ron Weasley; Blair Waldorf had Serena van der Woodsen; and Bella Swan, God forbid how much Sky hated that character, had Jacob Black, she would have Victor. They’d known each other ever since they were small, introduced by their parents. Their playtimes were filled with him acting like a pirate whilst she’d lay on the sandbox acting like a mermaid. He meant a lot to her, but as even the closest bonds go, they’d drift apart. Victor, being the son of an expat, did move to one place and another, but he still managed to find his way back to Sky at the the end of the day. Who’d ever thought they’d even go to the same Secondary School? It had only been a year since Victor returned to London from Paris, and being the outgoing Casanova that he was, he quickly gained recognition at her school, eventually leading to them drifting apart. Unlike most kids, Victor didn’t have to try hard to gain attention. He only needed to flaunt and flip his hair, as well as throw in a few French words here and there. So inevitably, he had to sacrifice time from hanging out with her and invested them to party, and party, and party.

Sometimes Sky thought Harry reminded her of him. Their cheeky personality; their charms; their boosting confidence were way too similar. But then she’d remember about how she didn’t really know Harry well enough to judge. She didn’t know him well at all.

“Oh well it seems like you’ve finally checked your phone.” she mumbled under her breath, her voice flat.

“Sorry, you know how busy my phone can get at times,” he responded cheekily, causing Sky to roll her eyes. “That aside? What made you send the message you sent me? What’s the reason behind you wanting to host a party?”

Sky sighed, as she ran her fingers through her freshly washed hair. “I don’t know,” she began, “I guess I finally came to my senses and realised that I only get to be a teenager once, and that there’s no harm in hosting a party.”

“You finally listened when I told you how perfect your house would be to throw parties at, yeah?” Victor responded, slightly chuckling. She wished she could burst his ego bubble - she didn’t know why he could be so full of himself at times - and tell him how she was now the winggirl to a famous British popstar, but she remembered how she had pledged to secrecy. She did, however, tell Victor about how a certain famous person may show up, before realising she spoke too much. Exhaling, she finally replied, “Yeah, problem now is that I’m not sure people will come.”

“And why is that?”

Sky let out a scoff, “I’m not you, remember?”

“Leave it to me.”

~~~~~

Sky had no idea that the translation of Victor’s “Leave it to me.” was “I’ll make sure everyone from school goes to your party.”

Within 24 hours, the news of Skylar Gibson’s House Slash Mansion Party hit the school like a plague and was circulating endlessly. She’d even overheard Chloe Adlington and her friends talk about it, and that definitely meant something. And for one of the rarest times ever, she was surprisingly surrounded by a mob of girls during lunch, all asking for the details of the party. Some girls, who only recently figured she’d been in the school since Year 9, were literally all up in her face, demanding answers to their questions. One in particular, Amy Wright, never left her side. “Victor told me there may be someone famous coming, and who’s that?” she asked, as Sky calmly took a bite of her pear.

“He may not show up, and I’m pretty sure I told Victor the same thing.” she nonchalantly responded, not phased by how Amy was practically spitting at her face.

“As if.” was the redhead’s short response, before getting up from her chair. “Honestly Gibson, if you really wanted people to know you existed you didn’t have to lie about inviting a celebrity. Pathetic.”

Sky sighed, as she placed her elbow on the table, before gently rubbing her forehead. She regretted telling Victor about a “celebrity’s possible appearance”, after knowing how sensitive her classmates can be. Before her, stood a rather irritated Amy, demanding a comeback from her. Resisting every urge to get up and tear the absurdly fake locks of the redhead, Sky took a deep breath, as she began typing quickly on her iPhone.

To Curly: Party at my house, sat @ 8. Chloe will be there.

She then got up, completely ignoring the existence of Amy and her small group, going on about how “Gibson got owned!” before taking a few steps away from the bunch. She was just on her 5th step when she realised how good of a comeback she had come up with in her head, and how much of a waste it would be if she didn’t fire it. Turning her head slightly, so it was clear enough for her to see Amy and her group, she began, “Well honestly, Wright,” she stopped, putting emphasis one the girl’s last name, “if you really wanted people to give you attention you didn’t have to lie about having real breasts.”

With that, she strutted through the corridor, trying to keep her mind off how much trouble she had just got herself into, before quickly catching someone say: “Oh, someone needs to put an ice on that burn.”

~~~~~

It was past 2 hours since Harry had impulsively replied to Sky’s text with a: “Will be there. Good job, Winggirl :) .xx”, but he was still sat on the studio’s couch, having the slightest idea whether he would “be there” or not.

The lecture Louis had given him the other day left an impact, and Harry had to admit that. Needless to say, he didn’t particularly like how his best mate had accused him of giving Sky a “pity party for being lonely”, or how stupid he thought his crush for Chloe was. Maybe it was envy, or maybe it was the anger towards how unfair things were, that made Harry react rather angrily to Louis’ calm scolding.

He didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to even fancy a girl, or how harshly his adolescent years were taken off him. But most importantly, he didn’t understand why it was fine for Louis, whom everyone knew was still going strong with Hannah, but he wasn’t even allowed to have a friend like Sky. The whole idea was beyond him, and he was completely taken aback at Louis’ last words that night.

“Your fans really love you, Harry. One wrong step and they could have their backs turned at you.”

The band joker did apologise to him at the end for being too dramatic, but he never brought up how perfectly fine it was for Harry to continue his friendship with Sky. He knew clearly where Louis was coming from, and he knew it was merely because he cared. This was still considered the beginning of their career, and not having their most favourited member on the market would decrease the support.

Sighing, Harry took another sip of his lemonade, before being greeted by a tired Niall.

“Still wondering whether to go or not?” the blonde asked in his thick Irish accent, as he plopped down on the seat next to Harry, who was nodding in response.

“Not gonna lie, mate, Louis is right.” his band mate continued, wiping his sweat off with a small towel. “And I know you think so too.”

Before Harry could respond, Niall had already spoken again, “I don’t see why he won’t give Sky a chance though. I’ve only seen her once but I could tell … She’d be one interesting friend to have.”

“She is.” Harry mumbled, not aware that Niall had just snaked his arm behind his back, in order to give him a brotherly pat.

“Well you know what? We’ll think about that later.” he finally said, messing the curly locks, “it’s been a while since you had a genuine, house party, and you better go there to have fun. Who cares if you end up getting into Chloe Whatsherface’s pants or not, just have fun.”

Harry laughed at how cheesy his friend was being, before finally perking up, “It’s been a while for you too. Come with me.”

Chapter 11

Heavens knew how awful Sky had to endure the past few days before her party. She promised herself it was the last time she’d ever underestimate Victor’s popularity at school, seeing how more and more people seemed to find out about the house party she was holding. The party itself was going great, though. People seemed to be enjoying themselves, slightly a little too much .. There was no chaos happening yet, nothing breaking or worse, burning, which was a relief for her because before the party, Victor had warned her that the moment people started swarming the place up will be the moment insanity will enter.

Sky had to admit, it was rather surreal holding a quite successful party. She didn’t bother to count how many couples she’d found making out in the bedrooms, the number of people she’d warned to not smoke inside, the number of people she’d clearly warned NOT to skinny dip in their recently filled pool, and she had certainly not expected every guest to show up with 2 bottles of booze in their hands. Nevertheless, she didn’t expect half the people invited would come, and certainly not Amy Wright, whom she had totally pwn’d a few days ago. Turning up with a too-fancy dress, Amy did look bitter, but she still had that trademark smirk of hers going on, seeing the ‘celebrity guest’ still hasn’t showed up.

But Sky had too much to think about, seeing she had some random boy’s hands wandering behind her back as he attempted to grind with her on the dancefloor. Her black studded heels were being a pain in the bum, and the indigo bodysuit she was wearing did not seem to boost her confidence, although the boys turning heads begged to differ. She knew perfectly that the boy was one of the school’s most respected kid, but she was also aware that he didn’t even know who she was before she held this party. Cringing slightly, she moved away from the tall figure, before being closely followed.

“Hey,” she heard a soft voice speak, and she immediately took the chance to get rid of the irritating boy. Turning around slightly, she was rather surprised by who had called her. “Oh, hi Chloe,” she managed to speak, as she stumbled away from the dancefloor.

“Nice party you’ve got here,” Chloe responded, waving her arms around to show the people enjoying themselves.

Nodding, Sky rubbed her palms against each other, “Surprising, isn’t it?” she rhetorically asked, before continuing, “What’s up?”

“Ah, yeah,” the blonde began, “that’s all really. I just wanted to tell you how amazing this party is, and that we should hang more often. You seem like an OK girl.”

Sky almost dropped her jaw at the sudden compliment, and as she shyly glanced away, a gesture she had whenever she was flattered, her jaw really dropped. However nice it felt to know how genuinely nice Chloe Adlington was, not to mention receive a compliment, the sight she was looking at was more important.

“Niall!” Sky called out.

The Irish lad turned his head around, a bottle of beer firm on his grip, “Ey, it’s Sky!” He happily shouted, opening his arms widely, welcoming her with a hug. She knew he had probably drunk a lot, despite knowing when he’d actually arrived, judging by how friendly he was being.

Approaching rather awkwardly, she eventually found herself enveloped in a tight bear hug, with Niall nuzzling his hair on the crook of her neck. “How you been!!” he asked almost too loudly, his face a deep shade of crimson.

“When did you arrive?” She managed to let out, and Niall responded with a shrug, “About 15 minutes ago.”

Before she could even respond, the loud thumping of LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’ took over, and in a blur of a few seconds, she found Niall attempting to shuffle on the living room, his legs almost hitting every luxurious furniture. Almost immediately, she followed the ecstatic blondie around the room, and in attempts of trying to stop his absurd dancing, he quickly caught her hands and completely turned the tables around. The two soon began dancing together, and if anything, Sky realised how long it had been since she had that much fun.

~~~~~

Harry smiled at every shocked faces he landed his eyes upon, whilst casually murmuring “Everyday I’m shufflin’” and moving lightly to the beat. He’d previously found Niall and Sky dancing like little kids in the middle of the living room and LMFAO’d himself over how dorky the two were being, before a few girls soon found him and asked for autographs. He was more than glad to do so, but was rather surprised by how only 5 girls queued. Smiling to himself, he casually grabbed a bottle of WKD.

“Fancy seeing you here,” a rather familiar voice became audible to his ears, and it didn’t take long for things to sink in and for his curls to whip around.

He observed the lean blonde now standing before him, taking in how gorgeous she looked in the red bodysuit. Looking up slightly, Harry let out a chuckle. “Yeah? Well, I fancy seeing you.”

She let out a girly giggle, something so foreign to Harry’s ears after all this time being used to Sky’s carefree laughter, before raising her hand and offering a handshake. “The name’s Chloe by the way. Chloe Adlington.” she said sweetly, and Harry began to contemplate as he stared at the perfectly manicured fingers. His completely crazy idea of using Sky’s help has finally shown progress, and yet he was still stood doubtful. He was now standing in front the girl he had spent weeks thinking about, and yet he still paused. Taking in a deep breath, he finally grabbed her hand, ignoring the handshake as he led her to the nearby sofa. “I knew that.”

~~~~~

Harry woke up with a pounding headache. His eyes fluttered open as his eyelashes bat, and the first thing he noticed was that the room he was in was not his. This room was painted a light shade of grey with white rugs. The blue colored sheets gave him warmth and his eyes grew wider when he realised that he was being stared at the entire time. By no one other than Louis. “Where the hell am I?!”

“You’re in my room, fool.” Louis coldly responded, before throwing a white v-neck t-shirt at him. “Had some fucking mad night, didn’t you?”

Harry quickly put the t-shirt on, noticing how upset Louis sounded. He refused to admit however reasonable it was though. Smirking cheekily, he looked up and laid his head on his folded arms. “Wish you were there, don’t-“

“-Do you know how hammered you got last night?” Louis abruptly interrupted, rubbing the tip of his nose with the back of his hand, as Harry sheepishly responded with how much he preferred the term ‘Lioneled’.

Nodding casually, Harry tilted his head, “How did I even get here?” he asked, before looking down and noticing the figure laying on the floor. Niall. “Surely that lad didn’t get me home safely?”

“I did, mate.” Louis mumbled, grabbing his phone from the nearby drawer. He then waved it around in front of Harry’s face, mocking. “If only Sky hadn’t called me you two could’ve had ended up sleeping under some bridge or something.”

‘Sky?’, Harry thought. ”Since when do you even called her that?” he asked, remembering how hostile his best mate was towards her.

Heading towards the door, Louis contemplated to himself, before stopping after 3 steps. “I don’t know man, it was nice to see that she looked like she genuinely cared about you.” he mumbled, flipping his hair. “It was funny, she looked worried yet absolutely furious at the same time.”

With that, he exited the room, completely aware that he didn’t have to explain any further to the curly haired boy. He knew Harry understood perfectly what was going on.

Chapter 12

If dignity was the equivalent of money, Harry Styles would’ve been poor by now. He’d spend the past few days trying to get a reach of Sky Gibson, all resulting in nothing, whilst occasionally catching up with Chloe.

He still had no clue as to what exactly went down at Sky’s party; how Chloe’s number now existed in his contacts; and how his winggirl had seemingly quit her job. He tried to get something out of Niall, but based from his response, it seemed as though the bubbly mate of his had his memory refreshed.

Throwing his Blackberry onto the coffeetable, he threw back his head to the couch, hopeless.

“Still no response?” Liam asked, before chugging down the entire water bottle. His bandmembers had noticed how glued he was to his phone the past few days and eventually digged the entire story from one Irish lad.

Harry then shrugged in response, before grabbing the small towel and covered his face with it. They were in the studio, and the fact that Harry couldn’t get his head in the music did them no justice.

“I don’t know if Niall missed anything out..” Liam began, rubbing the back of his neck, “but you like Chloe, right?”

Harry nodded in determination, trying to dodge off the doubts he had somehow developed the past few days. Liam, too, nodded in response, before speaking up again. “So you got what you wanted, right?” he asked in a low tone.

Looking up almost automatically, Harry began to open his mouth, before deciding to keep it shut. Maybe it was because he was simply too exhausted to respond, or maybe because he didn’t know what he wanted anymore.

Just then, his Blackberry began to vibrate against the glass coffeetable. Not knowing what to expect, Harry immediately grabbed it and pressed the green button.

“Harry?” A familiar gentle voice appeared from the end of the line. “Are you in the studio?”

Gulping, Harry responded. “Oh, hi Chloe. Yeah, been working for the past few hours. How are you?”

There was a pause, and Chloe finally spoke again. “I’m good,” she whispered. “Last night you said you’d call as soon as I get off college.. And you still haven’t, so I got slightly worried.” She added shyly.

If anything, Harry was the one completely embarrassed. He wasn’t aware that he’d neglected the girl he was meant to fall for. “Yeah, I haven’t had the time..” he said, cringing slightly at how he didn’t even try to find an excuse. He then perked up, as if a lightbulb just appeared above his curls. He needed to see her again to ensure his feelings. He needed to make things right. “Hey, would a dinner tonight make up for it?”

~~~~~

“Are you going to ignore that again?” Summer, Sky’s half little sister, whined as soon as she heard her sister’s phone vibrate for the 23th time that day.

Ignoring her sister’s nagging, Sky only pulled the blanket covering them closer, before increasing the volume of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire they were watching. She needed to set her mind at ease, though she wasn’t even sure what exactly fuelled her mood swings.

She should’ve known sooner. She did. She promised herself that once Harry officially introduced himself to Chloe she would finally return to her old dull life. She promised herself it was all just fun and games for a little while. She promised herself that she, by any circumstances, would never fall for Harry Styles.

And she still hoped she hasn’t.

Nonetheless, she didn’t have the explanation to why she bursted out of her own house exactly 5 days ago, after spotting a certain goodlooking couple getting cozy on the red sofa in her lounge room.

It wasn’t like they were snogging each other’s faces off or anything, and it didn’t look as though Harry was going down Chloe Avenue anytime soon. They were just cuddling, she kept reminding herself. Just cuddling.Still, that didn’t stop her from turning red. She knew she wasn’t angry. What right did she have to be angry? She was humiliated. She hated herself for feeling that way, but she was.

~~~~~

Harry began to button his crisp white shirt as he started to realise how nervous he was getting. Flipping his hair in attempt to fix it, he then headed out to the kitchen of his band’s recently bought flat. His bandmates were all out, and he was just scribbling a note on the memopad before the bell rang.

Not bothering to check who it was through the peephole, Harry casually swung the door open. Thinking his bandmates had an unexpected return, he began, “I thought you guys weren’t gonna-” before stopping, realising he was not facing any of his friends. It was Chloe.

“Hi,” she said, waving. Harry didn’t know how to react at first, but once he took a better glance at the petite figure standing in front of him, he immediately engulfed her in a hug. “I was just about to pick you up?” he said, nuzzling her hair.

“I tried to call you,” She whispered, breaking free from his grip. “I’m not feeling well, so I thought we could just order pizza and stay in.” she went on, hoping it was alright, whilst Harry continued to stare at her.

“Well I still could’ve picked you up!” He said in pity, before stepping away and letting the girl of his dreams enter. He then pushed the door, and as it clicked, he paused for a fleeting moment, staring down at the doorknob, taking in what was happening. Chloe Adlington was wrapped around his fingers. The girl he liked was his. Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and with one turn his face was only a few inches away from hers, with the help of her tip-toes. He continued to admire how genuinely pretty she looked in the purple hoodie and jean hotpants, paired with white plimsolls. He’d thought of her as a feminine, fashionable girl and was quite taken aback with her current clothes. “You look, distracted,” she began, snaking her arms behind his neck. Despite his almost immediately waist holding response, he was. She’d reminded him of Sky for a brief moment, but Harry then denied by shaking his head. He wished doing so would get her out of his head too. Because right now, was how things were meant to be. He was meant to be with Chloe.

~~~~~

Sky frowned, before finally turning off the Harry Potter credits playing. Getting up from her bed, she then pulled the thick blanket higher up Summer’s shoulders, whilst attempting to make the least noise possibly, not wanting to disturb her sleeping sister.

She had hoped the movie would help her forget about things, even for a little while, but having chosen Harry Potter out of all the movies was definitely a stupid move. Yawning, her eyes then fell upon the glistening red light coming from her Blackberry. It was odd, how she hoped it was not one of Harry’s “Oi what’s up with you!!!” messages again. She wasn’t playing hard to get, she simply didn’t understand why he was sparing so much time for her. And most importantly, she didn’t understand what made him do that.

Grabbing her phone, she was greeted by a text message from an unfamiliar number.

“Hello sky!! Ya alri??? ..havent talked to you in awhile..got your digits from harrys phone, fret not hahhaah”

With that, she raised her eyebrow, and before she knew it, she has already pressed dial. It only took one beeping sound before the person picked up on the other end of the line, and she immediately noticed the accent once he spoke. “Niall?” she said in a low voice, to which he responded with a rather loud ‘YESSS!’. Chuckling to herself, she then plopped down on her bed again, her legs now crossed. She and Niall got close to each other after the crazy Shufflin’ session at the party, and she found him very easy to talk to, maybe because of how his personality resembled the old Victor a lot.

“I thought that even if the deal with you and Harry’s done, there’s no reason for us not to talk to each other,” he exclaimed happily, followed by a brief pause. It was done? She thought to herself, despite feeling stupid for doing so. Inevitably, assumptions began to roam inside her head. Could it be, that Harry and Chloe had officially gotten together? Sky had probably gone so deep into her thoughts that Niall had to say ‘Hello’ again, before she finally came to her senses. “Uh, yeah, of course there isn’t,” she managed to confide, in such a low tone compared to Niall’s cheerful voice. “Gotta give you a high five for that, Gibson! You did some pretty good job seeing how lovey they were earlier.” he went on, although Sky screamed to herself, hoping he would stop.

“Were they?”

“Yeah, expect the rest of us to use your help soon, hah!” the boy teased, beaming. He was so oblivious to the whole situation, that he probably didn’t realise Sky’s silence over his loud laugh. “Havin’ that said, how about we go hang tomorrow? You, me and the rest of the lads?”

By now, Sky had already laid down on her back, her phone no longer placed to her ear. Nonetheless, she still heard Niall’s mutters over the sound of her heart breaking. She’d been silly enough to let herself think about Harry. She reminded herself how she’d forgotten her place, and if her heart was really breaking, it was no one’s fault but hers. Just then, she immediately got up and placed her phone on her ear again. Niall was going on about a certain club, but she immediately cut him off. “Just text me the deets. I’ll be there.” she said almost too quickly.

Chapter 13

Sky stared at the folded clothes filling her massive cupboard. Despite how many tops and bottoms she owned, she didn’t seem to find anything that would be appropriate on her night out with One Direction. Yes, she decided to agree on spending the Friday night with 5 of the most gorgeous boys she’d ever came across. And no, she has yet to figure out why she did. Nonetheless, knowing that Niall will be there to have fun with her did feel nice. Out of everyone in the band, she now considered herself to be the closest to him, followed by Louis who became much friendlier to her.

Having finally decided to go not too formal with a golden one-sleeve cocktail dress and black ankle boots, she then stared at her reflection in the mirror. Whilst doing so, she couldn’t help but wonder; Had she forgotten her place? Just earlier that day, she still received neverending praises from people at her school who attended her party days ago. Not only that, she’d gained so many new friends on Facebook alongside new followers on Twitter, most who referred to her as the ‘girl who knows 1D’. It was baffling, how many of her classmates whom barely acknowledged her presence before began to swarm around her as if they were her best friends. Did they not get it? Underneath all that, she was still her. Skylar Gibson, the socially awkward girl whom one day accidentally stumbled upon Harry Styles.

But just as she began to reminisce that day which twisted her fate, her phone rang. She’d just clicked Answer when Niall’s familiar voice echoed, “Oi Sky?” he began, and as she was just about to respond, he abruptly interrupted her with a: “We’re downstairs!” followed by a clicking sound. She pulled her phone away from her ear, noticing he had hung up, before coming in terms with the conclusion that somehow, One Direction GPS’d her house. Quickly enough, she took off her pumps before rapidly go down the stairs, and muttering a goodbye to her family and her yorkie Coco, who were having a movie marathon.

Today was going to be a long night.

No words would describe how tempted Sky was to steal and burn Niall’s Nando’s free piri-piri chicken coupons just an hour ago. He had completely forgotten to mention that she and the lads were going to one of London’s most elite nightclub to celebrate none other than Cher Lloyd’s newly released track. Despite feeling completely out of place at first, her dancing session with the charming Zayn and extremely friendly Liam did make her feel comfortable, alongside with Louis’ jokes. Harry, however, was nowhere to be seen and Sky would be lying if she didn’t feel a tiny bit of disappointment when she’d found out.

Squeezing her way to the bar, she then gave her blonde friend a tap on the shoulder. “Niall, you’ve been standing next to the chocolate fountain for almost half an hour now,” she chuckled. He then turned around, a cute expression apparent on his face, resembling one of a hungry child. He had a little fondue smudge next to the corner of his mouth, which just made Sky laugh even more. “You’re hilariously embarrassing,” she mumbled, pointing at her own face, hoping he would get her hint. He did, sort of, as he tried to lick off the smudge, except on the wrong side. Scrolling her eyes, she then shook her head for a split second, before rubbing it off with her thumb. “Wrong side, Nialler.”

Almost immediately, his face turned to a shade of crimson. He stood there perplexed, his blue eyes staring at her brown ones. As if going to speak something, he opened his mouth, before being cut in by Sky. “Is Harry not coming?” she asked very quickly, her words unclear. Niall tilted his head, thinking he’d heard wrong. “Ah, no!” He retorted, “I mean yeah, he is, he said he was on his way with Chloe just earlier.” Whilst hearing his reply, Sky resisted every urge to let her expression fall, not wanting her friend to be suspicious. She then looked up, at the now eating Niall, before speaking again, “Oh? Chloe’s coming too?”

He didn’t reply, and not because he was munching down an entire strawberry. Looking up, his eyes glistened upon recognising someone behind her back. She turned around not knowing what to expect right before he muttered, “There they are.” Entering the main door were a couple, oblivious to the immediate whispers they were getting. Sky felt a wave of relief rush to her once she realised they were not holding hands nor lovey dovey. “Pity they can’t even hold hands just because there are paps here,” Niall said, as if interrupting her blissful thought with a wakeup call.

Chloe looked breathtaking in her black halter dress, emphasising her stunning blonde locks, and Harry looked exceptionally goodlooking in his navy blazer. They looked perfect for each other: both so confident and beautiful. Looking away from the pair, she even considered going home, before feeling a gaze landing on her. She slowly began to look up, and finally realised that Harry was the one who had spotted her. They’ve lost touch since the party, and judging from his widening eyes, he definitely looked like he wanted to say something. Just then, the two approach them.

Niall gave Chloe a grin along with a ‘Sup’ nod right before she was about to greet them. Her eyes widened slightly once she realised Sky was there too, but she waved nonetheless. Harry, on the other hand, managed to create tension just by staring at Sky the whole time since he had arrived, making her want to melt into a puddle. When things were finally getting less awkward as the other 3 lads appeared, Sky felt someone grab her hand and drag her away.

~~~~~

This was all too similar. As if recapping a dejavu, Harry had dragged Sky to the corridor leading to the washrooms. Stopping abruptly, he then turned around, his face drowned in confusion. “Why have you been ignoring me for the past few days?” He asked, in a much lower tone than he had planned. He didn’t know what caused him to act so impulsively, but he needed to know. He just needed to know why his friend avoided him. His eyes blinked, and after a brief silence, she looked up, daring to look at him in the eye. “I’ve been busy,” she said calmly.

“Oh yeah, I’m totally buying that!” He scoffed sarcastically, his hand letting go of his grip on her. “Are you upset with me?” he shortly asked, frustration apparent in his voice. Expectantly, she looked away once she’d heard the question, clearly aggravated of even standing in front of him. “You’ve got to speak up, Sky. You’ve been acting cold towards me and I just want to know why.” he went on, slowly becoming hopeless. He didn’t understand her, and the fact that she was here despite avoiding him the previous days simply didn’t add up. He’d meant to ask her something since the day he woke up hungover in Louis’ room, and once he realised he had mustered the courage, he raised an eyebrow, “You can’t possibly — be jealous of Chloe, right?”

~~~~~

She didn’t know why, but the question hit her like a punch in the stomach. She’d spent the past 6 days trying to cover whatever feelings she had for him, and only know did she realise how miserable her attempt was. Clenching her fists, she then shook her head firmly, kicking away the urge to storm off in humiliation. He didn’t seem to find it convincing at all, as he had now taken a step closer, wanting to actually hear her answer.

“What are you two doing?” As if on cue, a familiar accent came to both hers and Harry’s ears. Niall.

She never knew Niall’s habit of interrupting would ever come in handy. He had yet to receive a response, considering how focused Harry was towards her. With that, she looked at him again, “No,” she began, giving him a warm smile, “Don’t worry,” she quickly added, before clicking her heels and turning around, finally setting off like a mannered lady should do. As she passed the confused Niall, she held herself to not look back. She knew he would promptly ask what was going on, followed by neverending questions, and she just didn’t want to deal with them. She needed to get out of the club, get some fresh air, and return to her old self, long before she ever got involved with a certain band going whatever direction they want. She was never used to having so many things going on in her life.

After going through the exit door in a swift motion, the cold night breeze immediately pierced her exposed skin. She took deep breaths and calmed herself, leaning next to the Victorian light post. She began to count from one to ten slowly, a method her mum told her since she was little, hoping she’d get at least a glimmer of peace in her heart again. Holding on to the post, she tried to regain her calmness, hoping she wouldn’t break down. She coudn’t. She’d never let anyone see past her cold attitude; and there was no way that even Harry Styles would change that.

Just as she was about to gently close her eyes, she heard the door creak. Whipping her head around, she was rather surprised to find Niall Horan standing there, a worried look plastered on his face. He was short on breath, seeing how red he was, but he didn’t seem to mind. As he rushes towards her, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. “You alri’?” he asked, almost stuttering. Sky could tell how concerned he was, and she didn’t want to worry him any further. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, and a smile crept to her face, “Yeah, I’m okay.” she whispered, before looking down and letting go.. Comfortable silence soon took over, until Niall, who clearly felt left out, spoke.

“Is it true,” he began shyly, unsure if he should go on, “what Harry said? That you’re jealous?”

Sky gulped. The boys sure loved asking questions, didn’t they? Taking in a deep breath, she finally looked at him again. “Why does it even matter?” she asked back, as she fake-smiled. This time, Niall was the one who gulped, and he seemed to be taking in the fact that she may have indeed liked Harry.. Before he could respond, she continued, “Would it change anything?” There was no bitterness in her voice, just a pinch of disappointment. Sky knew perfectly that Harry liked Chloe from the start, so what right did she have to let her feelings butt in? She began to clench her fists again, once feeling the urge to break down in tears. She couldn’t let herself do that, not in front of Niall.

As a tear streamed down her face, she tried to look away, before feeling her body spun around. A pair of arms soon wrapped her in warmth, holding on to her as her knees turned weak.

Looking up slowly, Sky realised she was now engulfed in one of Niall’s hugs.. It was nice; calming; and comfortable. But most importantly, it felt genuine. He had rested his chin on the crook of her neck, gently rubbing her back. They were stood in their embrace for about two minutes until Niall spoke up again, this time not asking a question. He remained in his position, his words slurring gently next to her ears, “I just want you to know that if I were him,” he began, “I would’ve chosen you over Chloe anyday.”

~~~~~

Harry saw. He saw and heard everything. And he didn’t like it. As his jaw clenched, he began to feel his body tense up in anger, and a mixture of foreign feelings began to bundle up, making him feel numb. He knew he shouldn’t have let himself storm out and follow her, especially not behind Niall. Running his fingers through his hair aimlessly, as his left hand held on to the doorknob, he quickly turned around. He figured that it was jealousy that took over him, and he wasn’t going to accept that fact just yet. He needed to get rid of whatever feelings he had for Sky. They were not supposed to be there, they were meant for someone else.

Chapter 14

Harry cracked. After seeing that innocent hug between Niall and Sky, a simple hug that showed how much one cared for the other, he cracked. As soon as he felt his body tense up while looking at them, he knew straight away that it was jealousy he was feeling. Jealousy, Harry Styles’ old friend. He’d been jealous over girls a lot of times, but this time was different. It would’ve been much easier if he knew Niall would never harbour any feelings to Sky, but what else could explain the Irish lad’s constant stories about her, except of the fact that he was clearly head over heels for one Sky Gibson?

After turning around and pushing the door inside carelessly, Harry didn’t bother if the two found out he’d been eavesdropping the entire time. He needed a way to get rid of his numbness, and when he saw Chloe standing by the bar, circling her finger around her mojito glass, he immediately grabbed her by the waist, before tucking the hair strands in front of her flawless face behind her ear. “Hey, where have you been?” She asked, her eyes blinking. But Harry didn’t respond, instead, he looked at her in the eye, only aware of how pretty her light green orbs were now. “Doesn’t matter-” he mumbled, as a smile crept to his face. “I’ve missed you.”

The blonde doll sure found his spontaneous compliment flattering, as she immediately blushed, “You’re so cheeky.” She giggled.

“No,” he cut in, taking a step closer. “I’m serious.”

Only now did Chloe seem to realise that something was definitely up with Harry. Despite them not making it official yet, this was the first time that he actually acted really weird - as if he was completely into her. But would Chloe Adlington miss up that opportunity? No. She soon smirked to herself, before leaning closer to him in a challenging manner. Her eyebrow raised, and so did her arm, until her right palm landed gently on his left cheek. She stared back to Harry’s greenish-blue eyes, her eyelashes batting. “How serious?” She whispered, slightly smiling, before an allured Harry Styles linked his lips with hers as an answer.

~~~~~

Sky sighed deeply, as she ran her fingers through her long brown locks. She was in the History class, and whilst Mr. Sweet went on about Germany under Hitler’s reign, she was sat in the back of the class, thinking.

That’s where she always sat, the back. Only difference now was that she no longer sat alone, as she now had 2 other girls very grateful to be sitting on the same table as her.

Sometimes she wondered why. It had been about 2 weeks since Cher Lloyd’s little party, otherwise known as the day Harry Styles became public with his supposed girlfriend, Chloe Adlington. Now that it was obvious she didn’t have a thing with Harry, why did people still bother to talk to her? Sky thought all hell would break loose now that Harry was no longer on the market, and she knew she was right, judging by how many glares Chloe got during lunch, or how many post-it threats were stuck on her locker, filled with exclamation marks.

Was Harry really worth all that torture?

As she fell deeper into her thoughts, the sound of the bell ringing became audible to her ears, and she slowly began to pack up, much slower than everyone else. Truth was, she always did this on purpose. She knew her new friends had many things to do, and plus she simply liked to be alone sometimes. “God, Sky, you’re such a slowpoke!” Her friend Anna teased, followed by Rachel’s giggles. Sky smiled in response, and only made herself move slower, before Rachel finally growled, “Babe, I’d wait for you on daily basis, but I’ve got to prepare myself for tonight!”

Tilting her head, Sky raised an eyebrow, “What, one of Victor’s parties again?”

“No, silly,” Anna laughed, as she began lending a hand by helping Sky pack her books. “It’s Chloe’s birthday, and I heard the entire school is gonna be at her house tonight, even though a lot of girls dislike her now.” With that, Sky’s eyes widened, remembering the fact that Chloe’s house was just across hers. Sure, there was her family’s fountain and the little park that widened the two houses’ distance, but Sky could pretty much see everything going on if she used a binocular. Zipping her backpack securely, she hummed a little, “Is it open invitation?”

“Not really,” Rachel responded, taking her bag off the table, before continuing, “she created an event on FaceyB last week and invited everyone on her friend list, well excluding adults.” Only now did Sky knit her eyebrows, spotting something strange. How come she received no notification? Did Chloe not want her to be there?

~~~~~

Harry Styles shoved his hands down his pockets, slowly making his way through the jewelry shop. He was accompanied by Zayn, who was deemed as an expert when it comes to buying gifts. Fortunately, the shop was rather empty, so the two were free to eye anything they want.

“Buying your girlfriend something the day of her birthday,” the Bradford boy spoke, a smirk plastered on his face. “that’s not very gentleman of you, Styles.” His brown eyes were glistening under the shop’s bright light.

Being stuck with Zayn meant having to endure his irritating comments, and Harry needed to do so. It was a blessing in disguise.

“That’s exactly the point, you douche,” Harry retorted, “she’s not my girlfriend just yet, but I’m planning to make her with this gift.” With that, he kindly asked the shopkeeper to show him a particular necklace with a musical note charm.

Zayn made a shock expression. “Not your girlfriend?” He asked mockingly, in a rather high voice. “then what was up with you two making the headlines for the past week? ‘Snogfest at Cher’s party’; ‘Harry’s mystery girl’ and all that?”

Harry took a deep breath, before rubbing his temples in frustration, “Stop being a cunt, Zayn.”

The olive skinned boy laughed, messing his jet-black hair. “No, no,” he corrected, swaying his index finger. Despite Harry giving him less than two shits of attention, Zayn put on a serious face, his eyes gazing at the beautiful necklaces on display, before finally speaking up, “I think you should stop being a cunt.”

Turning his head to face him, Harry crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Right, and how am I a cunt?” He asked, whilst the shopkeeper put the necklace in a tiny white box and began wrapping it.

Zayn put on an impressed look, before muttering an ‘alright’, as he shoved his own hands down the pockets of his letterman jacket. He tilted his head, still smirking. “First of all, I don’t even think you like that Chloe lass that much,” he stated, “which brings us to the second point: Up to this very bright, nice day, me and the lads still don’t get why the fuck you decided to go public with her,” he added. Harry was just about to cut in, before Zayn continued, “and here we are, in a bloody jewelry shop, where I thought we were buying something for your girlfriend, but noo, you’ve still got the guts to say, ‘Oh shit son, she’s not my girlfriend just yet!’.”

He then ended his owning-Harry-session with a bow. Inevitably, Harry was left speechless, admitting his defeat, as he took out his credit card and began his paying requirements. “You only agreed to come ‘cause the lads sent you to tell me this, right?” He mumbled under his breath, before receiving the small bag containing the necklace.

“Nah mate,” Zayn answered nonchalantly, before continuing with a sentence that really got Harry, “I’m just saying, you’re moving too fast with this and you know that.”

Chapter 15

Harry wondered if he even belonged here. He’s been at Chloe’s birthday party for about an hour now and the only time he actually saw her was when he first arrived. Since then, he only saw glances of her greeting almost over 100 people. Holding the small box of necklace tightly in his blazer pocket, he began to scan the entire living room, hoping he’d spot the blonde girl. “Oi mate, I haven’t seen you drink anything,” a voice appeared behind his ear. A rush of relief flew through Harry’s body once he realised it was Victor. The outgoing jock had briefly introduced himself earlier as Sky’s friend, and Harry found him much less irritating than the rest of the boys in Chloe’s popular clique.

They weren’t exactly unbearable, but they were quite snobby, and it didn’t take Harry long to realise that they were probably Waspoids, who go around dressed in Gucci sneakers or Armani sweaters.

Victor, however, was much less superficial and Harry couldn’t help but wonder if that may be the reason he got along well with Sky.

“Nah, trying to keep it clean for Chloe,” he murmured, gripping the box inside his pocket tighter. “You seen her anywhere?”

Victor gulped, as if being cautious if he should respond or not. Running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair, he hummed a little, before finally speaking up, “Ah yeah, she’s doing something at the moment.” he answered, so fast that Harry struggled with hearing what he’d just said. Once he did, Harry raised an eyebrow, “Doing what?” he asked.

Upon hearing the question, Victor immediately downed the beer he was carrying, in an attempt to hide the fact that he’d gulped. “Probably catching up with her friends. How girls are, you know.”

If anything, the only thing Harry knew at the moment was how bad of a liar his new friend was. But he was also aware that Victor was not going to tell him anything, so he decided to just let it go and look for Chloe herself. Biting his lower lip, Harry took a look at the box yet again, clicking it open to admire the silver necklace. The musical note charm was beautiful, and even though the lads had previously reassured him that Chloe was going to love it without a doubt, he was still nervous. Chloe seemed to have a great effect on him. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear every time she was about to speak; or the way she threw back her head every time she was laughing.

He loved her confidence, but it would often remind him of Sky’s opposite trait, insecurity. The way she covered her mouth with the back of her palm every time she laughed, afraid she’d look odd - Before Harry could continue with his thoughts, he immediately shook his head. He then closed his eyes quickly, before opening them and heading towards the corridor leading to Chloe’s front yard.

“Now what the fuck are you even doing here?” Harry heard a high pitched voice scream. He could hear the source of the small ruckus coming from outside, but he wasn’t going to see it personally just yet. He began approaching the door side, before leaning his back against the wall. The shoutings were starting again. “Who the hell do you think you are to just show up here?” another voice cried, seemingly on the same side as the previous one. Sighing, Harry took a peek, before spying 3 girls’s backs facing him, all facing a girl standing by the gate. His eyes widened when he realised the petite girl was on the verge of crying, but his jaw only dropped once he realised who was standing amongst the 3 girls.

Chloe.

“Last time we checked, this was not open invitation, ain’t I right babe?” The first girl spoke up again, whilst Chloe nodded in approval. Harry scrunched his eyebrows, hoping the girl he’d spent months liking would not contribute in this bullying, but he hoped too soon when he saw her place her hands on her hips. “You’re only here to see Harry, huh, Weaver?” he heard her familiar voice. It was odd, though, he was used to hearing her speaking so gently, that he almost couldn’t recognise the current feistier voice.

The girl looked up, “Yes Chloe, I was just going to ask for a picture and leave..” she stuttered, her voice hoarse.

“Bitch, did you think Chloe’s birthday was a fookin’ Harry Styles’ signing or something?!” The first girl spoke up again, causing the petite girl to take a step back. Chloe seemed to think it was too much as well, as she calmly closed her eyes, inhaling. Once she opened them, however, did the tension increase. She began walking, approaching the girl, as her hips swayed left to right. “Now listen closely to me, Weaver,” she began, calling the girl by her surname yet again. She was not screaming, unlike her two minions, she was speaking in a rather low tone. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble to get a picture if you were invited. Wanna know why you’re not invited?”

‘Weaver’ blinked, contemplating whether or not to respond. Holding her Forever Young book and camera tighter to her chest, she nodded slowly.

“Hm, do I even need to say it?” Chloe retorted, followed by fits of her friends’ giggles. Harry couldn’t help but continue eavesdropping, even though he dreaded knowing what Chloe was going to do next, let alone hear her say anything more. He hated seeing her like this, but he hated only seeing this now even more. By now Chloe had already faced the girl again, and after she flipped her locks behind her shoulders, she continued, shocking Harry further more. “Look at yourself, you’re pathetic.” she stated simply, each words stinging like venom.

Her two friends seemed to find this highly amusing, and they only crack up even louder when the girl finally shed a tear. Chloe, a flat expression still plastered on her face, then sighed, “Fucking piss off, Weaver. No one wants you here.” She murmured, her heels clicking as she turned around. Harry, shocked as ever, finally exhaled, rather glad that there was no physical fight going on. But just as he was about to go show himself and ask Chloe what was up on the spot, the blonde girl spoke up again.

“Scratch that. No one wants you at all.”

~~~~~

“So that marks the end of my Nando’s dream,” Sky heard Niall end his little story on the other line, almost able to hear him take a bow. Throwing her back against the thick duvet on her bed, she began laughing again, realising how weird of a person Niall was. They were on the phone for about 3 hours now, and he had spent the last one telling her about his odd Nando’s dream where he got chased by their Peri-Peri chicken for not finishing his 3rd portion the previous night.

Brushing off the tear at the corner of her eye, she placed her phone on her ear again, “Oh Niall, I freaking love you.” she managed to say in between her giggles. She stopped, however, when she realised he didn’t respond. Getting up, she then rested her back on the white headboard, before looking at her phone screen. Odd. She was still connected to the call. “Oi, you there?” she began calling him, and she felt herself smile when he coughed in response. “Ah yeah Sky, I’m here! Just a lil’ shocked you finally confessed your dying love to me. Can’t get enough of Nialler eh?”

“Obviously,” Sky mumbled in response.

Just then, her head jerked up once she heard an eerie noise coming from outside her window. Gripping to her phone tightly, she whispered in worry, “Shit, Niall. I can hear weird noises coming from outside my balcony.”

“Really, Sky? Is that your lame way of asking me to go to your house?”

Sky raised her hands in aggression. Niall was absolutely adorable, but the fact that he found every thing so amusing wasn’t always good. Especially not at times like this. “I’m gonna check it out-“

“-You’re not gonna hang up are you? What if something happens?” She heard Niall say, still not serious.

Chuckling slightly, she rolled her eyes in response, even though he couldn’t see her. “If you don’t hear from me by tomorrow, you’re taking all the blame.” she mumbled, before hanging up. Putting on her panda slippers, as she slowly walked to the window, the noise only became louder. It was a mixture of branches rubbing against each other, and Sky was just about to ignore it and go call Niall again before another voice appeared. This time, she felt her heart drop for a split second, hearing the noise that seemed to be the friction of shoes’ sole against the wooden floor of her balcony.

She quickly grabbed her field hockey stick that was standing by her bed, holding on to it as if she was holding on to her dearest life. She felt adrenaline rush to her, along with feeling rather heroic, before grabbing the door to her balcony, and swiftly slid it open. As she took a step out of her room, she swung her stick, alarming, before dropping it almost the next second once she saw who it was.

~~~~~

“HARRY?! What the hell are you doing here?!” He heard her familiar voice shriek, before the stick she was holding hit against the wooden floor. Placing his right hand against his chest, as his left held on tightly to the strong balcony railings, Harry began to breath deeply. ‘Steady, steady’, he thought to himself, calming his nerves after facing a girl holding a giant hockey stick. Who does that?!

“How did you even get here?!” She cried, causing him to step back in shock again. Before he could inhale, her mouth formed an ‘o’ and she went on with her questions. “Did you just climb on that tree?! Are you nuts?!”

He put his hand in front of her face, waving it aimlessly, hoping she’d get the idea to shut her mouth for just a minute. Once she did, Harry had finally retrieved his normal breathing. He walked towards her, his right palm now stuck on her windows, “Hasn’t Mr. Gibson taught you to never let a guest waiting by the door?” he murmured cheekily under his breath, his steps slow.

After grabbing the stick off the wooden floor, Sky scoffed sarcastically, “He has, yeah, but Mumma Gibson also taught me not to open the door to just anyone. Especially not anyone creepy.”

“How am I creepy?” Harry exclaimed, offended.

“You climbed my tree! No sane person climbs other people’s trees!” She retaliated, keeping up her banter. After growling to herself and face palming, she finally looked back at him, before realising something. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t meant to. Hitting the edge of her stick against the floor, Sky raised an eyebrow. “Harry, shouldn’t you be elsewhere?” she asked, no longer in the mood to pointlessly argue with him again. Despite the mini heart attack he had just given her, she wasn’t going to lie, she was rather glad to see him. It shocked her to know that he went through all that trouble to see her, even though she still didn’t know his actual purpose. But then she thought about Chloe, and how much the two liked each other, and just bury all the previous feelings.

“Not really.” he replied sheepishly, “Not anymore, at least.”

She was about to ask him to elaborate, before he took off his navy blazer, which only confused Sky even more. “Have you got a paper?” he mumbled, and even though she was still perplexed, she waved her arm, indicating him to enter. As he stood by her desk and jot down something with a black Sharpie, she heard him ask, “Is there a girl with Weaver as a surname in your year?” Upon hearing the familiar name, Sky perked up, “Yeah, Eva. I have French with her.” Eva was the definition of a loner, and a bigger social awkward than her, and Sky was confused as to how Harry would even know her existence.

“Could you, give her these on Monday?” he went on, handing her a small note on a neatly folded blazer. As Sky received them hesitantly, she could vaguely read the small writing on the white paper: ‘Hi Eva. You’re wanted. Harry .x’

What was up with him today? Sky thought to herself, and just as she was about to actually ask him, he was already gone. Sky then quickly walked over to her balcony, and just as she’d expected, Harry Styles was attempting to pass over the railings yet struggling miserably. He looked up once he realised someone was watching him, and Sky bit her lower lip. “You could stay if you want.”

Chapter 16

She wasn’t sure what drove her to even suggest that, considering he was the culprit of the troubles that kept herself awake for the past few weeks, but it felt right. It just did. Perhaps it was because he’d climbed her tree just to give her his blazer and a note, which still confused her greatly; or maybe it was because she hadn’t properly seen him in a while that she’d started to miss him. Perhaps.

He perked up, now looking at her innocent face, offering company. He was trying to go over the rails, although still unsure what he was going to do next. One thing he knew for sure, he wasn’t going to Chloe’s again. He wasn’t exactly closing the doors to his heart for her, but what he had just seen earlier did open his eyes wider. Setting both of his feet on the wooden floor of her balcony, Harry ran his fingers through his now damp curls, before rubbing his neck. He hadn’t seen Sky properly for two weeks now, and he could notice the slight difference in her looks. Her brown locks had been cut about 2 inches, and she’d gotten a bit tanner. But most importantly, she looked happier.

Harry wondered if it was because she now had Niall by her side, even though he had no idea what their status was. But what gave him the right to ask?

“I suppose I could use some company,” he finally admitted shyly, something very odd coming from one Harry Styles. Surprisingly, Sky responded with a smile, before turning around and sliding her door open wider.

Once inside her room, Harry could smell Paco Rabanne’s Lady Million, and just like that, his arrogant sense kicked in. “Niall already got you a perfume with this month’s paycheck?”

Rolling her eyes, Sky walked over to make her bed. “Niall means a lot to me, Harry,” she mumbled under her breath, as she fixed her pillows’ positions. “It’s not like I’ve known him for decades or anything, but I do wish I have. He’s a good person.” The sincerity in her voice was obvious, and she managed to say it so calmly, as if she really meant her compliment. As she looked up, she realised that Harry stood dumbfounded, clearly embarrassed of the unnecessary comment he made. Chuckling to herself, she added after a pause, “He wants me to scold you and the lads for teasing him so much.” With that, she plopped down on her bed, before tapping the free space, “Sit.”

Harry hesitantly kicked off his white Supras, and sat down next to her. For a brief moment, comfortable silence filled the air, whilst Sky played with the ends of her blanket and Harry fidgeted with his fingers.

“You want to tell me what happened with Chloe?” A voice suddenly appeared, and Harry jerked up, contemplating.

~~~~~

Harry sighed, aware that if there was anyone he should be telling about what he saw, it would be Sky. But a glimmer of hope that the scene today was just a rarity, not something Chloe Adlington does during her free time, still sparked inside Harry’s mind, and with that, he scratched his head. “Doubtful.” he stated simply, his voice hoarse. “I’m becoming doubtful about Chloe.” There was a slight pause, giving Harry yet another minute to decide whether everything was worth telling Sky or not. Whether everything was even worth it.

Luckily, she seemed to understand, and when her brown eyes looked up and met his, he realised just how absurd he felt. He was shocked, upset and hurt. On one hand he knew that however Chloe treated other people would mean no difference to how he sincerely felt about her, but there was still something that bothered him above all this. The fact that he didn’t bother to get to know her a bit more; the fact that he’d been so impulsive just to make things he wanted to happen, when he wasn’t even sure of what he wanted.

“Are you..” he heard Sky’s voice speaking up again, in midst of the blasting “Tonight” by Ne-Yo and Pitbull coming from the house across hers, and he bit the inside of his lip, waiting. “Officially together with her yet?”

“I was supposed to - Not sure about it now,” he muttered under his breath, before standing up and putting his shoes on. He walked slowly to the door, and as he attempted to slide it closed so they won’t be disturbed, a loud noise of glass breaking appeared, as the pieces shattered on the recently asphalted ground. Cooing of teenagers soon followed, and both Harry and Sky immediately rushed through the balcony, curious as to what just took place. “Well shit!” Harry blurted, spotting a crowd starting to muster just in front of the Adlington’s house. “There must be a lot of shit going there, they’re all getting absolutely Lioneled,” he mumbled. Sky on the other hand, tried to tip-toe to see a better view, but what she could gather was a bunch of her classmates shouting at each other.

“Don’t you think you should check it out?” she suggested nervously. Harry then frowned slightly, “Are you kicking me out?” he asked.

“I know I asked you to stay and everything - but you should really be with Chloe right now, make the Birthday Girl happy.” Harry looked back at her and before he can even refuse or comment, Sky continued. Playing with the hem of her pajama shorts, she looked down at her slippers. “And only if it turns out things don’t feel right, end it gently. If not, then give her a chance.”

Harry sighed. Did Sky know who Chloe really was? he thought to himself, but settled for another question, if not plead, instead. “I was such a dick when I last saw you, forgive me?”

Laughing meekly, Sky tucked her long fringe behind her ear, “You were already forgiven ever since you climbed that damn tree.” she mumbled, waving him to leave. A look of relief seemed to flush his face, and he then stared at her, “What, I don’t even get a goodbye hug?” He asked, pouting.

Sky stared back humorously, but she beckoned him over, causing Harry to cheerily walk over to her way, and she weakly leaned forward. His strong arms pulled her into an almost bone-crushing hug, but the warmth of his embrace, the softness of his delicate touch — they made up for it. It reminded her of Niall’s calming bear hugs so much that she wondered if good hugger was a qualification to be in One Direction. She felt a finger twitch, hesitating to stroke her hair, but just a split second after she felt her hair tapped too strongly, her hair messed. “Thanks Sky.”

“For what?” she mumbled, letting go.

Harry turned around, approaching the handles again. With one swift movement, he jumped over it and held on to the strong branch. Looking up, he managed to shoot a wink. “For opening my eyes even wider today.” he replied, leaving one Skylar Gibson confused.

Jumping off the branch closest to the ground, Harry immediately shoved his hands down his jeans’ pockets, the London night breeze piercing his cheeks. He gazed up to see that Sky’s room had gone dark, and laughed to himself at the thought of her going to bed on a Friday midnight. He couldn’t believe he finally had a proper conversation with her again. It had been a while and even though he only spent a mere 10 minutes, he realised just how good of a friend she was. The past few weeks he had been wondering if she may be jealous of the relationship between him and Chloe, but tonight proved otherwise, and he somehow felt a pang of disappointment.

As he opened the gate carefully, the blasting music from Chloe’s house was already too much for him to bare. He was preparing himself of what to expect once he went back inside, but as he looked up at what stayed under the light post, his jaw dropped.

Harry’s forehead ceased with great surprise. Looking down at the broken windshield of a white BMW M3 parked just in front of Sky’s house, he rose his eyes to the crowd of hammered teenagers still gathering. Was this where the shattering sound earlier came from? As soon as he spotted a familiar face, Victor, he immediately called him over. “Who the hell did this?!”

“I don’t know, mate!” The muscular boy cried just as loudly, clearly anxious. He seemed to have had absolutely no clue as to what happened, and ready to wee anytime soon. “I was inside when all this shit happened - This is mad, man, mad, this is the car Sky’s dad just got her!” He exclaimed, running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair as he paced back and forth. They were the only two gathered around the perfectly polished car, seeing as everyone else seemed to be too drunk to even care. “It was probably James or Hugh, either one of those dicks,” Victor quickly retorted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m dead meat. Sky’s going to kill me. So is her dad. And her mum. I’m dead, Harry, DEAD.”

“Relax, dude, relax,” Harry commanded, patting him on the shoulder. With that, he quickly took out his phone from his pocket, typing as fast as he could.

“You’re sleeping right now, but I’ll see you tomorrow morning. You might be greeted by a big surprise. :/ .x”

Chapter 17

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Sky began to open her eyes reluctantly, her eyelashes batting. Her left arm reached out from under her blankets, rubbing gently against her puppy’s fur, Coco, as her hand aimlessly hits the alarm in order to stop the obnoxious sound. Her alarm was set to 9 a.m, early enough for her to go to college and collect her stuff for the summer, yet late enough for her to have a good night’s sleep after last night’s loud chaos otherwise known as Chloe’s birthday party. Rubbing her eyelids abruptly, she stood up almost too quickly, her back hurting a little. Next to her bed was her vibrating Blackberry, the red light blinking non stop.

She was greeted by 6 messages, all coming from Harry. Scrolling down to read from the earliest message, her eyes immediately widened upon reading something about a surprise. She began scrolling upwards, only to get more confused.

“I’m downstairs, mind waking up and coming down? :).x”

“Hmm, would you rather me go up your tree again??? >:D”

“HULLLOOOOOOOOOOOO”

“It’s been 15 minutes.. I’ve come to agreement that you’re still asleep and so I will keep on bothering you.”

“Oh yay, I’m now having tea with your mum. You never told me she was a milf.”

Just like that, Sky’s body began to function so rapidly as she jumped off her bed. She then entered the bathroom, before brushing her teeth in a flash. Glancing past the mirror, she didn’t bother to pamper up herself, having too many things wandering inside her head at once, and immediately headed to the staircase, looking as rough as ever with her large t-shirt and lavender sweat shorts. Just as she was about to set her foot on the stair, she peeked down and was greeted by stares from both Harry and her mum, seemingly interrupted whilst having a rather great conversation.

“Oh my, Sky, you could’ve washed yourself first!” Mrs. Gibson’s familiar voice took over the living room, waving at her abruptly awoken daughter. “Compare how you look to Harry here.” she added, as Sky walked down the stairs lazily, not willing to scan how exceptionally handsome Harry looked today in his gray cardigan and red Vans, a refreshing, more casual look compared to his usual blazers. “I think she looks fine,” Harry mumbled almost in a whisper, before taking another sip of his tea.

“What’s the big surprise?” Sky finally spoke up, approaching the single armchair, but just as she was about to sit down, Mrs. Gibson interrupted, “Ah, yeah sweetie, you might want to check that first.”

~~~~~

“Oh my God, WHAT HAPPENED?”

Well.. She took it well, Harry thought to himself, holding every urge to laugh. He’d previously explained everything to Sky’s mum, Denise, about how wild of a party went down yesterday, resulting to one of their family’s car to have a broken windshield. Oddly enough, even though Harry had expected the woman in her mid 40’s to have a mental break down and start throwing rocks at the Adlingtons’ house like mad, she turned out to find it rather amusing. Instead, she shrugged, before saying “Oh well, that’s the glory of adolescent years I suppose,” and dialling a number to get it fixed soon, stating how Chloe’s family would never be responsible either way.

Sky, on the other hand, looked as if she was torn between wanting to burst out crying or kill someone. “Oh God, mum, I’m so sorry,” she’d been repeating over and over again, whilst Denise just smiled in response.

“How about - you go get ready and collect your school stuff rather than mop here apologising about something you didn’t do,” she finally said, before looking at Harry and giving him a warm smile. “Harry here, a friend of yours you seemed to have never told me anything about, has been exceptionally kind to offer you a drive to college,” Denise continued, giving Sky a rather too obvious wink, before giving the two a warm squeeze on the shoulder and heading back inside.

Once Mrs. Gibson went inside, Harry let out an awkward cough, as he shoved his hands inside his pockets. “Your mum doesn’t know who I am?”

“She probably does,” Sky mumbled to thin air, her attention still focused on the car. “I guess she didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

Harry nodded to himself, understanding where she came from. As he bit his bottom lip, he couldn’t help but wonder if he made them uncomfortable; if his sudden appearance at their door today at 8:30 upset her mum. He then raised his arm and began rubbing the back of his neck, before facing Sky, “Well, aren’t you going to get ready then?” he asked. The tall girl tilted her head, contemplating, before finally making her decision. “You’re not my chauffeur, Harry, I can just go with my mum.”

“Yeah? From the looks of it, she doesn’t seem to want to drop you there.” he teased. As expected, Sky rolled her eyes in defeat, before turning around and heading back inside, the word PINK plastered on the back of her shorts, causing an already amused Harry to laugh.

Sky awkwardly shifted in the front seat, her fingers fidgeting as she continuously fixed her long fringe’s position. Sighing, she then moved onto playing with the hem of her high-waisted shorts, feeling so nervous she couldn’t wee herself on the spot. Harry, on the other hand, seemed much more relaxed, whilst his palm gently tapped against the steering wheel to the rhythm of One Republic’s Good Life. Clearing her throat, she turned around and began scanning the interior of the brand new Lexus CT 200H. “This - erm - is a really nice car you’ve got,” she mumbled awkwardly under her breath.

“Huh?” She heard Harry mutter, before beaming, “Oh no, it’s not mine! Our manager lent it to me this morning, couldn’t risk using my car knowing the paps remember my plate.”

Right. The perks of being a ridiculously popular boyband member with a private life everyone’s dying to know about. Almost forgot, Sky thought to herself, nodding in understanding. Just as she plunged herself deeper into her seat, embarrassed by her guess, Harry spoke up again, “So, you’ve got any plans this summer?” He asked, in a tone that could only be described as genuine.

“Not really,” Sky responded, shrugging, “my dad’s going to Vienna for a business trip; I might be going as well, but I won’t do anything.” She went on, realising how her upcoming boring summer would match her boring personality. “You?”

She swore she saw Harry grin to himself before answering, as if he’d been waiting for her to ask. “The lads and I might be going to Santorini this month, just so we can relax before starting the single’s promotion.” He retaliated, whilst she nodded again. The boys were finally going to release their first single later in August, and Sky had to admit, she was looking forward to how it would turn out like. She has, previously tried to get something off Niall by bribing him with food, but the boy seemed to have an invisible lock and previously swallowed the key that he didn’t tell her anything.

As they entered the gate of her school, in Harry Styles’ manager car, with Harry Styles driving, Sky immediately gulped. About 10 metres away from the entrance stood Chloe and her entire clique in all their loud glory, seemingly chattering about how big of a blast their trip to whichever getaway island will be. Crossing her fingers in hopes that she could just get out, politely say ‘Thanks’, and finish all her errands, Sky subtly turned her face around, facing Harry, praying that none of Chloe’s minions would spot her. After finding a parking spot, Harry seemed to the now short gap between them odd, as he raised an eyebrow, “What, are you scared of sunlight?”

Almost immediately, Sky shook her head and faced forward again, before finally looking behind to where Chloe and her friends were, only to find the doll-like blonde staring back at her.

“So, you’ve got any plans this summer?” He asked, in a tone that could only be described as genuine curiosity.

~~~~~

Harry’s gaze shifted from Sky’s turning head to the rear-view mirror, recognising the familiar blonde locks approaching their car. Taking in a deep breath, he took his keys and opened the door, aware that Sky was doing the same. Just as his mop of curls became exposed to the fresh morning air, Chloe called out his name in excitement, clearly surprised by his appearance. “Babe!” He heard her shriek, and the next thing he knew was that he was carrying her, whose legs were tightly wrapped just below his hips. “Why are you here?” She asked, almost too sweetly for Harry to simply let go. They haven’t talked much since her birthday, considering Harry’s aim was to keep a distance from her. He needed some time to think; some time to decide whether Chloe Adlington deserved the necklace currently sitting inside his nightstand.

“I was just dropping Sky,” Harry finally responded, slowly dropping Chloe to her feet as well. As expected, she tilted her head in confusion, before Harry chuckled, “Remember one of your mates breaking her window?”

Chloe seemed to recall something, but immediately shot her attention to Sky, who was stood with her arms crossed, her weight shifting from one leg to another, feeling like a third wheel. “Your mum works on Saturday’s? Why couldn’t she drive you?” Chloe then asked. If it wasn’t for Chloe’s flat, low voice, it almost sounded exactly like a confrontation. Either way, Sky remained standing, not knowing just what exactly to reply. What, ‘your ‘babe’ offered me a ride out of pity?’.

“I offered the ride.” Harry retorted after a brief moment of silence, clearly aware of how uncomfortable the situation was getting. Chloe seemed to want to add another point, deciding to let it go as she smacked her lips against each other, mumbling an ‘Oh, okay.’ She then reached for Harry’s right hand, before intertwining it with her left. As she gave it a gentle tug, Harry reluctantly began walking, not exactly keen on leaving Sky just like that. It took him about 2 minutes before things sunk in and made him realise just how uncomfortable he was being order to walk away, when what he really wanted was to stay.

And at that moment, he inevitably began to wonder if the reason he felt incomplete around Chloe all along, was because what he really wanted was Sky.

Grimacing upon a spontaneous idea - a trait that is contagious from living with Louis Tomlinson - Harry’s face beamed up, before stopping abruptly. He turned around 90 degrees, so that Chloe was by his left and Sky’s was just 5 metres from his right, before finally looking at both one by one. “What do you guys say about a summer trip to Santorini?”

Chapter 18: Santorini Fiasco part I

“Hmph,” Sky mumbled, shuffling awkwardly in her seat. Flying 35,000 feet above ground with the most popular boyband in the UK was certainly not how she thought she’d spend a Friday. Running her fingers through her tangled hair, she then lifted her legs to the seat and pulled them closer to her. The lights on the cabin had already been turned off, and everyone was fast asleep. Sky took this moment to savour the calmness of silence, as in a few hours everyone would have already woken up and be in the most excited state ever for this Santorini trip.

She then glanced up, examining the screen stuck before her. 1207 kilometres passed, and approximately over 1000 more to go. Shifting her attention to the estimated arrival, Sky felt a pang of excitement rush through her, realising they’d be arriving in Santorini in broad daylight at 7 a.m. Despite not actually elated to be where she was, Sky wasn’t going to lie, she anticipated Greece’s beauty that awaited them. That may have been the reason why she plucked up the courage to show up at the airport even though the first greet she got was Chloe’s glare. That, and a wave from Jasmine, one of Chloe’s oddly friendly mate, who surprisingly joined the trip. It was great, she supposed, so the girls wouldn’t be as outnumbered.

Plugging her earphones inside her ears, Sky then fished her hands inside her Hollister jumper, attempting to get some more sleep. She was halfway listening to Last Dinosaurs’ Time and Place, and probably half asleep too, before feeling a small tug and before she knew it, she’d woken up. “Did I wake you up?” the familiar husky voice came to her ears, replacing the upbeat drum rhythm. Tilting her head to properly lean on the airline seat, Sky rubbed her eyelids lazily. “I dunno, did you?” she murmured. Just when she thought being stuck for a 5 hour flight next to Harry Styles wouldn’t be as bad, here he was, disturbing her needed rest.

He grinned, drumming his fingers against the seat handle, “You’ve got a unique music taste. I’ve genuinely never heard of this band before and here I am jamming to it.”

“Why thank you,” Sky said in the middle of her chuckles, before fixing her sitting position. “Had enough sleep, Styles?”

Nodding determinedly, he then laughed, “I can’t keep my excitement. I haven’t been on holiday for almost two years now, this was much needed. You?” He asked, before snapping his lips shut, realising how silly of a question it was considering he had woken her up. The two looked at each other for a brief, comfortable silence, before breaking into fits of laughter. Quiet enough not to wake the other passengers up, yet loud enough for the two to enjoy.

“Wow you two, get any louder, I dare you.” Another voice appeared. This time, however, Sky immediately rolled her eyes. She remembered how a lot of kids in her year would complain everytime they had to sit next to Smelly Sally, but compared to situation now, Sky would take the Smelly Sally’s seating partner position gladly. Not only did she get one of the aisle seats; forced to be sitting next to Harry; she also had Chloe on her left side, after the blonde doll complained of being claustrophobic despite however much she wanted to ‘cuddle with Haz’.

“Sorry babe- Did we wake you up?” Sky slouched in her seat, resisting the urge to vomit all over the place over Harry’s question.

Well isn’t this glorious, she thought to herself, before rolling her eyes again, feeling like an ultimate thirdwheeler. Chloe, on the other hand, was clearly enjoying this, as she began leaning to Sky’s side, squeezing her way in order to get a better view of Harry. “No- it’s alright bub, I never liked sleeping without having something to hold on to.” She then said, pouting. “I know I asked for this seat, but Sky, would you mind switching places with me?”

Tilting her head, Sky raised an eyebrow at the sudden request, before breaking into genuine laughter, “Ha, of course, wouldn’t want to ruin this beautiful moment right here.” she spat nonchalantly, taking off her seatbelt. After a great minute of hassle as the two girls switched seats, Sky plopped down on the warm cushion. Taking a small glimpse, she immediately gained the urge to vomit again as she saw Chloe cuddling with Harry, nuzzling her hair against his red hoodie. The remaining 4 hours of flight was going to be long.

Maybe it wasn’t going to be so long, as Sky glanced to her left and realised Niall was shuffling on his own seat, stretching. His right eye opened, and as soon as he spotted Sky staring back at him, both of his eyes widened. “What has Chloe Adlington transformed into?!” He exclaimed in the trademark XFactor voiceover imitation of his, before turning his body 90 degrees to fully face her. He extended his arm, and whilst Sky wondered just what exactly he wanted to do, he slowly clenched his fist, “Gimme a bro fist, girly.”

Laughing, Sky then looked up, as she placed her elbow on the handle, before placing her chin on her palm. “How weird is it that you woke up right when they’re giving us snacks?”

“Not weird. I’m psychic.” The Irish boy responded, taking a peek at the flight attendants walking down with a trolley filled with sandwiches.

“As if. You’re just hungry.” Sky whipped her head around upon hearing the small remark made by Harry. Raising an eyebrow, Sky mumbled, “Didn’t know you were awake.” Surprisingly for her, she then heard a scoff, before Harry continued, “How could I sleep when there’s you two pretty much shouting to the entire cabin.” She then knitted her eyebrows, before leaning forward to peek at Harry. Despite his eyes being focused on his phone, and Chloe, who was leaning against his arm, blocking the view, Sky could clearly spot Harry’s apparent sulky face.

Well someone was snappy.

Chapter 19: Santorini Fiasco Part II

The sun. The sun was shining ever so brightly as soon as they finished claiming their baggages, as if welcoming the crowd of teenagers with arms wide open. As she pulled, or better yet, dragged her massive luggage with her weak arms, Sky followed the others slowly, knowing she wasn’t going to catch up anytime soon seeing they were practically sprinting to the parking lot, excited about the start of their holiday.

So she decided to look at the ground whilst walking, observing every step she took on the unexplored country. Sure, she’d travelled often, but a holiday with One Direction (and.. Other people) was definitely different.

“You look so miserable,” Sky’s heart almost jumped into her throat as she made an abrupt stop, preventing striding full force into Harry Styles. He had appeared out of nowhere and was now walking backwards in front of her, eyeing her face as he talked.

“And you look dashing,” she began, to which he responded with an over exaggerated gasp. “Like Bradley Cooper. And Ryan Gosling. And, as your fans would say, like a sex god. All in one.”

Amused by her sarcastic tone, he let out a genuine laugh. Fishing something out of his Abercrombie sweats, he then took out an apple. With what could only seem like a girl’s number written on it. “Look what I got,” he said gleefully, stopping his backwards track. Beaming, he spun the apple in front of Sky’s face, showing her the number. “A fan recognised me during baggage claim and gave me an apple from the flight, but she thought it wasn’t enough and added her digits. Cheeky one ain’t she?”

Sky chuckled. “What are you gonna do with it?” She then said, although focusing on her steps as she began to walk again.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” He finally said, after catching up with her, now walking by her side. “Was thinking of putting it on a shelf- along with other number plastered things I’ve received.”

“You’re kinda full of yourself, anyone ever told you that?”

Harry blinked, tossed his apple up, and caught it. “Not exactly. You’re the first.”

Despite his slightly sulky face, there was a pang of flattery in his tone. As if he had just breathed fresh air, as if someone had told him something so honest, not things people thought he wanted to hear, something Chloe and so many other girls had done.

And Sky noticed that. Releasing her grip from the luggage, she began waving her hand aimlessly, tired of pulling all that weight. They were about five feet away from the van they were using to get to the hotel when Harry took Sky’s hand, in such a casual manner, and studied her palm. “What have you got in that bag?” He asked, laughing slightly after observing how red it was.

Sky was overwhelmed by the touch he had given her, however inappropriate or unnecessary her feelings were. She decided to keep herself composed, unaffected, even though her cheeks couldn’t seem to follow her brain’s commands and instead, followed her heartbeat. “Uh, I tend to pack everything in sight—”

“I. Can’t. Sit. At the back.” They heard Chloe shortly state to the driver, in a tone so cold yet loud enough for them to hear. Her elbow was resting on the van’s window, her hand cupping the back of her head. And just like that, Sky saw Harry drifting off to the blonde doll’s direction, as if a babysitter had heard the baby weep. As if the conversation they were having less than five minutes ago was a figment of her imagination.

Sky saw him wipe the thin strands of hair over Chloe’s forehead, as he raised an eyebrow, “You alright babe?”

“I dunno,” she sighed before looking over to the other boys’ direction. Zayn was still struggling with keeping his eyes open, whilst Liam and Niall were eyeing a brochure as Louis dropped his last backpack at the baggage. “Will it be okay if you boys squeeze in at the back? And you too, Sky?”

Sky rolled her eyes, imagining being sandwiched in between boys’ armpits, those who haven’t taken a shower for a day at that. But she then realised what Chloe wanted, Chloe got, and just nonchalantly nodded in response.

And in less than half an hour since she stepped on Greece, she was already dying to go back home.

~~~~~

Harry sighed as he folded his trademark Raybans and stuck them just below his white polo collar, settling on his seat uncomfortably. He was stuck at the very back of the 7-seat seater car due to Chloe’s demand, with Sky seated in between him and Zayn. The girl didn’t seem elated with her lack of oxygen either, as she shot her head back and immediately sat up straight when she realised there was no headpad for the very back seat.

Her right knee had numerously hit (and hurt) Harry’s left everytime there was a bump, and only then did he realised just how skinny she was. He felt a pang of guilt as he scanned her gloomy face, as he had been the one to invite her to this trip and even promised her ‘a good time’. He then scooted towards his right, providing a tiny space as he elbowed her and mouthed, “Here, have some more space.”

Sky hesitated for a moment, before waving it off and mouthed back an “I’m okay”. Just then, her attention moved to her left thigh as she felt a small pinch, before shooting Zayn a puzzled look.

The gorgeous boy, with his olive skin glowing just perfectly over the ray of sunlight behind his head, however, just responded with laughter before pointing at Niall, who appeared guilty as his right arm was slung behind his seat. The Irish lad was looking as giddy as ever, contrary to everyone else, and he raised an eyebrow at Sky. “Aw c’mon, I was expecting you to be dancing!” He pouted, not pleased with how she was already so close to falling asleep again. With that, he turned his attention to everyone else, excluding the snoring Louis in the middle seat. “We’re in Santorini, people!”

Harry rolled his eyes in response, “Kinda hard to be dancing when you can barely even breath, don’t you think, Sky?”

The brunette gave a slight shrug, before hovering Zayn’s iTouch with her finger, and whispered if she could check out his songs, and Zayn seemed to be more than happy to finally get a chance to bond with the girl. Wait, whose girl was Sky? Was she anyone’s? Annoyingly, Harry felt his heart rate quickened, thoughts throbbing his head. But who was she closest to, at least? He let himself in, genuinely wondering if people would consider her as his friend or Niall’s.

And eventually hoping the answer was him.

~~~~~

Sky began to take in the scenic view through the car window, as the vehicle finally pulled by the drive way in a slow stop, after what felt like hours. They arrived in front of a grand cottage, the main entrance looking very welcoming behind gigantic pillars. The cottage had opted for an Olympus-like design, but what amazed her more was the view behind it. They were uphill, and behind the massive hotel laid Santorini’s trademark, the crystal clear blue sea. Once Louis pulled the middle seat, Harry immediately jumped out of the car, in a manner that could only resemble a bird breaking free from a cage after being trapped for ages.

With that, Sky let out a chuckle, before giving herself a mental scold. No, she wasn’t supposed to laugh at him. She wasn’t even supposed to look at him.

She’d decided after Chloe’s overreacting scene earlier that she would not just let herself be someone’s last resort, even if that someone was Harry Styles. The idea of being the back-up plan; the substitute; the cold salad after a warm soup, just wasn’t her cup of tea. Not that going on a trip almost halfway on the other end of Europe was either.

She’d given him a chance. Even though he wasn’t aware of it, she had. But the more he kept going back and forth between her and Chloe, the more she realised the boy didn’t know what he wanted. The more she felt like this meant so much more to her than it was to him; the more she felt like she was being too dramatic.

Smoothing down the back of her jeans, she sauntered to the boys, not wanting to glance at the embracing Harry and Chloe. Couple, friends with benefits, or whatever they were.

Just then, she felt a hand snake behind her back, before it was firmly, yet casually placed on her shoulder. Tilting her head slightly, she saw Niall standing there, whilst his other hand was holding his weekender bag. “Isn’t the view spectacular?!” He asked, to which she responded with a genuine, agreeing nod.

“Look,” he then added, after a brief pause. “I don’t know why you looked gloomy earlier- maybe it was the flight, or maybe it was the lack of air- but I do want you to have a good time. And with all of us here, that wouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

She felt him squeeze her arm reassuringly, and that first time, she really believed him.

Chapter 20: Santorini Fiasco Part III

Harry squeezed out the remaining sun block from the tube and rubbed his palms together. Gently, he then ran his hands over Chloe’s toned legs. “There. All done.” He said, giving a light smack on the girl’s bum. Unaffected, she didn’t flinch from her laying-flat-on-stomach position, before giving Harry a thumb’s up.

“Are you going to be sunbathing all day?” He heard himself ask, sitting down on the lounger next to hers. It wasn’t like staring at Chloe Adlington in bikini was a bad thing, he wouldn’t mind doing that in his spare time, but he had hoped they were actually going to have some quality time together. Ever since he had bailed on officially asking her to be his girlfriend, she seemed distant. He didn’t blame her- he wouldn’t want to be forced into playing tug of war with the opponent doing nothing.

Nonetheless, he needed to make sure she was at least standing on the other end of the rope. He needed to make sure she still had feelings for him.

Harry’s gaze then flicked to her back, which was now slightly arched, as she turned her face towards him, “Why, what’s wrong with that?” She asked, in a tone that could only be described as genuine confusion.

Letting out a scoff, Harry ran his fingers along the hem of his light grey v-neck. “I thought we were gonna spend time together, do things we can’t do in London,” he mumbled, before taking the material off his body, leaving him with his boards shorts.

He then got up and took a last sip of his lemonade, before casually stating, “but I guess I’ll talk to you later once you’re bored from being boring.”

With that, he walked over to the edge of the pool and dove in, in hopes his doubts and confusion were going to drown in the water.

~~~~~

“Alright, I’m gonna change first!” Sky exclaimed, calling out to Niall and the rest of the boys who were heading to the opposite direction, the restaurant.

They had gone on a boat earlier and done a variety of water sports, such as jet-skiing and snorkeling, all which Sky had sincerely enjoyed. With Harry and Chloe nowhere at sight, she’d discovered a side of the boys she had never knew, such as Zayn’s sarcasm, Louis’ too touchey-feely attitude and Liam’s humour. Spending time with them reminded her of the old times with Victor, back when high school wasn’t draining the life out of both of them.

“Now where’s the elevator…” Sky whispered to herself, gazing up at the domed ceiling looming over Omorfia Hotel’s main lobby. She’d slept at five star hotels before, but the interior of this one was remarkably beautiful. Spotting the silver door, she firmly pressed the button, itching to remove her wet t-shirt over her bikini top and change into dry clothes.

The elevator ding’d and she entered slowly, feeling a wave of relief pass through her once she found there was no one inside. She was looking like a mess.

As she was about to press the >< button, a manly hand snaked its way in between the closing doors, and just like that, it began to open again, revealing a wet, grumpy looking Harry Styles.

He hadn’t noticed her standing there, before he looked up and ran his fingers through his damp hair, a few droplets of water hitting his bare shoulders. Tossing the towel he was holding, he shot her an endearing smile.

Not saying a word, she then eyed him pressing the 9 button, a reminder that everyone’s rooms were on the same floor. As expected, she was asked to share the room with Chloe, although that wasn’t much of a problem as the blondie had made it clear numerous times that she was looking forward to Greek nightlife, meaning Sky didn’t have to deal with spending that much awkward time with her in a room.

“Hey,” Harry finally greeted her, leaning against the elevator. “How’s my favorite friend enjoying Greece?”

Annoyingly, Sky felt her stomach flutter, before she turned around and began looking extremely interested with the ends of her wet hair, even though she wasn’t sporting dipdye or split ends.

“Okay, I get it. You’re not talking to me.” She heard Harry say, and hating how childish he was making her out to be.

Ignoring his remark, she glanced over at the number above the buttons. 3. They were on the 3rd floor, and she only had to endure 6 more before she could finally break free from this awkward occurance.

Unfortunately, ignoring Harry was a rather difficult task as he wasn’t only shirtless, but he had decided to face Sky, his eyebrows knitted. “What I’d like to know is why.” He added.

Sky sighed. She couldn’t help herself. “I don’t think I owe you any explanation.” She said tersely, as Harry’s forehead creased with concern. His mouth slightly opened briefly, before he smacked his lips back together.

“But you were fine at the airport earlier?”

As if on cue, the elevator ding’d again, and as soon as the doors separated, Sky smoothly slid in between them. She had hoped Harry would let the matter be and talk to her later, but she realised that was not the case when she felt a tall figure hovering her from behind.

She then stopped walking in front of room 218, before whipping her head around only to startle him. Harry blinked as she zipped open her wallet, taking out her room card.

“Hey, seriously… Did I do something to offend you?”

Sky scoffed. “It doesn’t matter.”

Upon her answer, his eyes widened, and what flowed from his mouth after was unexpected. “Of course it does. We’re talking about you here.”

“And?” She asked weakly, not pleased about how clingy; demanding; and girly she sounded. She was slowly turning into something she’d always avoided to. Feeling herself flush in embarrassment, she then swiped the card and turned the doorknob, not wanting to take this conversation any further. But annoyingly, another hand wrapped itself atop hers, preventing the door from being opened wide.

“Sky. I want to know what’s up,” he began clicking the door again. “And if you won’t speak up, I won’t know. And if I don’t know, I won’t leave.”

Hearing his response, Sky let out a deep breath. She couldn’t help herself. “What do you want from me?” She heard herself say, and eventhough she had attempted to sound in charge, her voice shook.

Harry didn’t seem to have caught up with her problem just said, and with that, she ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t know why I’m here- why you bothered bringing me all the way here. I’m not even sure if we’re friends, so why, what do you want from me?” She said, not quite sure if any of the word she’d just blurted out made any sense.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Harry finally responded, raising his hands in surrender, with his annoyingly endearing smile still plastered on his face. He’d thought she was going to chuckle, but as he observed her frown, his smile began to fade away too.

“Hey,” he said, in a tone so low that it was barely a whisper. He took a step closer to Sky, and if it wasn’t for the door behind her, she would’ve taken ten steps back. “Do you think…” He continued, his eyes scanning hers, as if looking for a permission to finish his sentence. “…I’m leading you on?”

Sky gulped. She hadn’t expected Harry to ask something like that so bluntly, and she wasn’t quite sure if she had an answer prepared. Ugh, why did she have to open the door for such question by blurting something out like that?

Her gaze began to wander his background. She needed to look at something. Anything. Anything but those greeny blue orbs of his.

Luckily for her, Harry seemed to understand that she didn’t do well under spotlight, and carefully, he raised his hand, reaching for the tips of her fingers. He didn’t quite hold her hand; or entwined their fingers together, but he began drawing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, a gesture so simple and innocent, yet it calmed Sky effectively.

“If you do…” He began, bringing her hand up. “Just know that it’s not true.”

Right there and then, she received a great urge to break free from his grip, and run away. So far away. She had never wanted to talk about feelings so openly, let alone a confession. “Harry,” she managed to say, attempting to pull her hand although failing miserably.

“A little bit more.” He shortly said. “You just have to wait for me a little bit more.” And with that, he tilted his chin upwards, and as it hovered her forehead, he slowly faced down, planting a bare touch with his lips just above her forehead. And just like that, the wish he had requested, suddenly seemed to have sounded like a plead.

Chapter 21: Santorini Fiasco Part IV

A little bit more. What was that supposed to mean; Was Sky supposed to wait until Harry could figure out just what he wanted? Questions wandered inside her head as she pulled her blanket closer. The day had gone exceptionally slow since Harry’s sudden confession, and Sky had purposely avoided any other activities and stayed in her room. How was she supposed to face Harry after what he’d just say? Or most importantly, how could she face him, when there’s Chloe pretty much clinging into his arms?

Letting out a deep breath, she then curled herself in a fetus position, the cold AC beginning to sting her skin. 12:45 am. Everyone else had gone clubbing to some famous club, mingling with other teenagers, making the most out of their free time here; whilst she’d decided to call it a day, with the background of some Greek soap opera covering the silence in the room.

“You scared me,” Sky mumbled, before plopping herself on the edge of her bed. Maybe a person with a normal degree of self-awareness would realise not everyone is nocturnal and knock before barging into someone’s hotel room. Then again, this was Zayn. A drunk Zayn at that. “What do you want?” she heard herself ask, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand - despite her thoughts ringing in her head preventing her from dozing into sleep, she was sleepy.

“I have been ordered by the majesty, Chloe Adlington,” Zayn flicked on the light switch, following a groan from Sky, as she pulled her blanket over her face. “- to fetch her phone.” he continued, waving the Blackberry in his hand. Sky couldn’t help but notice the blinking red light on her phone and wonder who was contacting her. Chloe was everything she wasn’t: confident; popular; envied. She generally did well at school and certainly did amazing when it came to social life, and Sky couldn’t help but wonder just how Chloe did it.

“Huh, and where’s everyone else?” she asked, trying to sound uninterested.

“Getting completely hammered?” Zayn responded as he raised his arms, as if Sky had just asked the stupidest question. He then tilted his head as he dropped his hands to his sides. Eyeing her carefully, the ends of his lips curled into a thin smile, which oddly made Sky uncomfortable with the attention she was getting. She looked down, waiting for him to say something - anything - to stop staring at her like that. It was the kind, caring smile, but it made her feel small, as if he was pitying her.

“You should live a little.” he impulsively blurted out, his brown eyes swept across her face.

Sky looked up, opening her mouth immediately, tempted to give a defensive response. But she knew he was right: what else could explain the fact that she was lamely wallowing herself in self pity, instead of having fun with the others, except for the fact that she didn’t know how to live? With that, she looked down, again, before shrugging, “I know.”

“You’re a cool gal,” Zayn spoke, worried he was being too judgmental on her. He wasn’t Niall or Harry after all, he’d barely talked to her before tonight. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t kept an eye on her, and even figured that she had two of his mates wrapped around her finger. Amusingly enough, she didn’t seem to be aware of it, and that brought a smile to his face. “But why be cool when you can be - so much more? All I’m saying is, don’t be too hard on yourself.” He finished, happy with how casual - yet straight to the point his sentence sounded. He knew Sky was aware of what he was talking about. He knew, and he was proven right when all that came out of her mouth was nothing, and instead, she stood up from the bed, and engulfed him in a hug.

~~~~~

Friday dawn, Harry Styles looked at the window of his cab, scanning the dark Santorinian streets. He’d left the club earlier than the others, leaving behind Louis, Niall and Chloe, as Zayn and Liam had previously left. He’d known Louis and Niall loved clubbing and parties, but he never knew just how much booze petite Chloe could handle. It became a surprise when he found out just how big of a party girl she was, and he couldn’t help but wonder if there were so many things about her left unknown. “Kid, why no happy?” a voice broke into Harry’s reverie, and it took a brief moment for him to realise the taxi driver had asked a question.

“Pardon?” he asked politely, leaning his body closer to the front seat. The taxi driver smiled warmly, his eyes squinting, making his wrinkles apparent. “Why, why you don’t smile?” he asked, speaking louder this time. “Santorini give bad night to you?”

Harry smiled at his question, appreciating how friendly the man was being. Was his bad mood that obvious? Sure, he may have loved partying a lot himself, but tonight just wasn’t the same. Truth be told, he’d half expected Sky to at least show up, but the fact that she chose to stay in her room, really did ruin his night. Earlier that day, he’d let himself go; he’d let down his guard, and told her to wait. He had implied to her that he liked her - heck, he was head over heels for her - but she responded with nothing. She didn’t let go when he kissed her forehead, but nor did she say anything afterwards. Was it too soon? Was he really meant to be a detached, heartbreaking jerk who should just give up on romance and just stick to meaningless hookups?

“No no, Santorini’s great,” Harry responded, genuinely meaning it, “I think I’m giving myself a bad night.”

The taxi driver looked confused for a moment, before giving Harry a knowing smile. He shook his head in amusement, before looking at him through the rear view mirror again. “No, woman give you bad night, isn’t it?” he teased, before turning the steering wheel. “I see your eyes - your eyes tell me. It’s a woman.”

That moment, Harry wanted to cringe at how cliche everything was, but he stopped himself. It was odd how a random taxi driver could easily read him like that. Running his fingers through his curls, he scoffed, “Yeah, I guess you could say so.” The driver then let out a deep breath, and Harry began to enjoy the conversation. It was nice, talking to a complete stranger, and not having to worry about them judging you. It’s a bonus if the stranger is a Greek taxi driver who wouldn’t recognise you and report to the press, too. “Women are confusing when you’re young. They say this, they want that. They say that, they want this.” The driver went on, and Harry nodded in agreement.

“But you have to be the big one, you make her happy.” The old man smiled again, washing away his previous frown. “And when you make her happy, she’ll make you happy.”

Harry nodded, fishing his pockets for money, as he noticed they were arriving at the resort. Folding the fee with extra tip for the life lesson, he then stuck it on the driver’s shirt pocket, before stepping out of the car. Zipping his hoodie up, he walked inside. “Evening,” greeted the exotic-looking receptionist, and Harry smiled in response. He’d had a rough night, and all he wanted to do was head to bed and hoped tomorrow was going to be better. And hopefully Sky would be talking to him then.

But that idea immediately faded off his mind as he spotted a familiar figure leaning against one of the white concrete columns in the lobby, with an open novel on her hands. Sky.

He hadn’t expected her to be awake, or roaming around the room at this ungodly hour, and he certainly never knew she read as a hobby. Walking closer to her, taking in her baggy, gray sweater with the American flag printed on it; flannel shorts; and white flip flops, Harry couldn’t seem to wipe off the grin on his face.

“Trouble sleeping?” he asked as soon as he was about a metre away from her. Sky dragged her eyes away from her book and over to Harry, surprised to find him there. But even more surprising to Harry, she actually smiled upon his appearance, sending tingles to the tip of his fingers. He was never aware of it until now, how shaky he gets; how heavy he breathes; and how he had never thought he’d feel that way again whenever he was around her.

“Yeah. Odd,” she mumbled, holding the book spine and turning the pages aimlessly. “Had a good night?” She finally asked, and Harry didn’t like the sound of the question. There was a twang of sarcasm, along with a mixture of genuine curiosity. Shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket, Harry lightly crossed the floor with his foot, “Uhm, could’ve been better.” he whispered, and Sky, much to Harry’s dismay, just nodded in response.

Silence then filled the air, and Harry just wanted to run away, and maybe stop talking to her ever again - despite how much he liked her, he hated how stupid she made him feel whenever he’d just said something. He felt like a little kid, saying the dumbest things, and he felt like everything was just one sided. Like he was stuck on one side, feeling all these foreign, overwhelming flutters towards her, whilst the ball stayed on her court, not moving.

Just then, a loud voice, what could only seem to be an argument, came from the receptionist’s area, and the two immediately whipped their head around. A girl, with her, Harry assumed, mum had their hands on their hips, whilst the receptionist had taken a step back, not knowing how to respond. The girl’s arms began to wave around, and she was vaguely muttering some Greek words, before two familiar words came to his ear. ‘One Direction’. Then it all sunk in. What else could’ve it been? The girl was clearly a fan of them, and had somehow heard they were staying in the resort, and was now demanding an answer from the receptionist. He’d taken a small step, feeling the need to explain - and feeling extremely guilty for the receptionist’s face - before he remembered the figure standing next to him. Of course, how could he possibly explain the reason behind One Direction’s Greek getaway with a few girl friends? Their manager had clearly stated they were dead meat if any paper ever published anything about their vacation, and Harry simply couldn’t risk that.

So the first thing that came to mind - or maybe it was because he’d just watched Johnny English recently, Harry immediately grabbed Sky’s hand. Before she knew it, he’d already found the perfect hiding place, the caretaker’s closet, and gently pushed her inside, his palm planted on her lower back.

“A closet, really? We could have gone into the lift and they still wouldn’t have found us,” he heard her speak before giggling, having a vague idea of where she was inside the completely pitch black room. “My brain doesn’t work well under pressure, sorry,” he muttered in response. Then, everything turned quiet as the two returned to their normal breathing after their little sprinting session. He turned his body, looking for warmth oozing off her body, before he felt someone slap his face about gently. “Ouch,” he laughed, a full, deep laugh.

“I thought I’d lost you.” he heard her respond, and he felt that tingle again.

“Well, hi.” he replied lamely, reaching out for her face this time. He must’ve had pressed her nose because she let out a funny laugh, and that was when he realised how much he wanted to pause time and stay in the humid, dark, smelly closet with Skylar Gibson forever. Thoughts of Chloe’s blonde locks; Caroline Flack’s body; or even Frankie Sandford’s smile had never crossed his mind ever since he’d stepped out of the cab. And for the first time, it didn’t scare him. It felt perfect.

And so he took the opportunity, and stepped closer. Leaning in, all he could hear was his breathing - and he thanked God, Sky’s. His eyelashes bat as he raised his hands and gently cupped her cheeks, his thumbs stroking just below her eyes. Despite how much he loved that moment, he wished it wasn’t so dark just so he could look into her brown eyes one last time, to make sure she wasn’t intending to pull away or maybe slap him on the face. But then, shivering in anticipation, he felt her tug his hoodie gently, pulling him closer. Harry wondered if the closet had some sort of an anti-gravitational pull to the earth, because right at that moment he couldn’t seem to keep his feet planted.

And so he pressed his lips on hers, slowly and tentatively, before receiving response as she captured her own lips with his. And even if the English language didn’t work that way, it felt even more perfect.

Chapter 22 Part I

By 7 o’clock that morning, after a few restless hours of staring at the ceiling and smiling to himself, Harry Styles’ mood had massively improved. Who would’ve thought just a few hours earlier, at around 2 a.m, he was sitting in a Greek cab, moping about how much life sucked? That was, until he hopped off and spotted that one girl, and right at that moment, he realised why he’d thought life sucked: She hadn’t been near him. Who would’ve also thought, that the two was going to be stuck in a damp, dark closet, feeling on top of their world? Harry had mustered all his courage, after all this time being a wimpy little boy confused about his feelings, and kissed Sky. Not much was said, but when she broke the kiss and rested her forehead on the crook of his neck, he knew he’d done the right thing. He knew it was time.

Nonetheless, he hadn’t been sure if he was supposed to do that. It felt right, but he’d also left another girl hanging. Or so he’d thought. As soon as the lobby of the hotel grew silent and he finally got out of the closet - with Sky’s very, very soft hand in his - all his guilt washed away as he spotted a familiar blonde figure, poking the toned chest of some tanned, Greek dude in a white skin-tight tee. And as he noticed her batting eyelashes and pouty lips, he realised how little of a love believer Chloe was. Just like him. Or the old Harry Styles, perhaps.

He’d been naive enough to think the doll-like girl was genuinely into him, and only now did it sink to him that Chloe never loved anyone. That eventhough he never got to fully harbour his feelings on her pier, he wasn’t the only ship there. She may have been public property with the way she dressed or the way her hips swayed everytime she walked past, but she’d never let any boy took full control of herself. She belonged to no one and everyone.

Nuzzling his head on his pillow, Harry shook the thoughts of Chloe and found himself reminiscing the smell of Sky’s hair, a mixture of lily petals and pomegranate, and he imagined how bearable every morning would be if he was to wake up next to her. And then he laughed to himself. He was never too fond of cheesy stuff, despite Love Actually being his guilty pleasure, but he just couldn’t seem to get her out of his head. All he wanted to do was to see her again, and spend the rest of the day getting to know her. He wondered if she ever had braces, if she knew how to cook, or if she had any weird phobias he should be aware of. As he pulled his pillow closer to his head, he couldn’t help but look forward to unfolding Skylar Gibson’s story.

Harry was about to get up and make a cup of tea before the ringtone of his phone blasted the hotel room, causing a sleeping, still hungover Louis to grunt. Raising an eyebrow at the odd early call, he lazily grabbed his phone. “Hello?” he asked in his morning voice, and David, a staff from their management, responded with his London accent from the other end of the line. “Harry, mate? I’m risking roaming for ya, heard you’re in Athens?”

As soon as he realised who called, Harry threw back his head in irritation. David, much to him and his bandmates’ dismay, was one of the strictest staff. He’d been working in the management for quite a while that he didn’t tolerate even the slightest trouble from the boys. Harry himself had gotten into a few troubles with the 30 year old male, including that one time he shamelessly flirted with Chloe during their single launching after party. David only brought memory to that night, and how into Chloe he’d been. And how everything has changed. Taking a deep breath, Harry finally spoke, “Santorini, actually, and I already got permission. What’s-“

“Did you get a permission from me?” David interrupted, and Harry could easily detect the anger in his tone. This wasn’t going to end up good. With that, he raised his left hand in defeat, even though David couldn’t see him. “Woah, Dave, what’s this about- we’ve even told Uncle Si about this. There was no problem, man, so why am I getting told off?”

He then heard a scoff before David sighed heavily, as if he was really stressed. “I had scheduled a photoshoot for you, and before I got to propose the idea you lot were already gone for a bloody holi- you know what, just stop being a little girl and get back here. Check your e-mail for your itinerary.” Incredulous, Harry’s jaw dropped in disbelief, and he then threw his arm in the air. Upset was not the word. Glancing over at Louis who was sleeping soundly, Harry then felt a glimmer of jealousy mixed with anger - look at him, snoring whilst he had to deal with Douchey David - and gave Louis a kick on the bum. Focusing on the phonecall again, Harry retorted, “We never got told anything about a photoshoot, it’s not our fault, mate-“

“Who ever said the photoshoot was for all of you? You, kid, recently created a scandal with that little blondie, and I’m doing you a favour by arranging this photoshoot so you could clear things up. The others are getting their tickets sometime tomorrow to Monday, including those two girls you brought along.” David spoke, sharply emphasising on the girls. As if it wasn’t enough, he then continued, “If you think I’m being a twat right now, you shouldn’t have been a cocky know-it-all and create a scandal to begin with, kiddo.”

Right then, Harry fell back on his bed, ignoring the now awake Louis who pestered him with questions about who was on the phone. Running his fingers through his curls, he let out a growl.

It was happening again. Before he’d landed in Greece, he had drowned in a pool of stress as pressure on their first album overwhelmed his back. Not only that, as if to make things harder, ridiculous rumours about him getting a girl pregnant; going solo; and the Chloe thing, too, added further stress. There was only so much he could cope with.

So when Louis, as expected, came up with the idea of a one-week getaway to Santorini where he even got to bring Sky and Chloe, Harry felt as though some weight was taken off his shoulder. And it made him feel less suffocating.

But then David had to call. Fucking David.

And as Harry began to imagine all the stress that awaited him in London, thoughts about getting to know Sky sprang out of his system. He needed to prove to everyone, not only Douchey David, how he was not some “cocky know-it-all” who loved causing troubles. He was passionate, and serious about his job, but he hoped everyone could cut him some slack, as he was still that same old cheeky chappy.

“Time to clean up, Styles. Party’s over,” added David, and Harry rolled his eyes as he quickly hung up. He then got up, headed to the shower and under his breath, muttered, “Tosser.”

Chapter 22 Part II

Three months. “Three months”, Sky thought to herself, as her fingers played with the hem of her plated skirt. Sighing, she looked up and began observing the streets outside the car, with Adele’s One and Only playing on the radio. Her brown eyes, despite how blank they’ve been looking the past few weeks, scanned the streets filled with people under umbrellas all wrapped in thick coats, welcoming winter.

School has started again, and she was now in sixth form. She got new uniforms, new stationary, new schedule; but everything felt dull. Running her fingers through the tip of her now shoulder length hair (her boredom reached the point where she skipped biology extra lesson to go to a hairdresser, which surprisingly, didn’t make Mrs. Gibson disown her afterwards) and laid her head back.

“And I stand corrected,” her mum spoke, although her attention was on the steering wheel. “Your hair does make you look fresh.”

“I think you look like Snow White. Except your hair is a bit longer.” Summer, her little sister, added sweetly. Sky couldn’t help but smile, not minding the fact that Snow White was her least liked Disney Princess. She turned her body so she could see her little sister and gave the soon-to-be-7-year-old a pat on the head.

It was Friday and Sky’s dad had gone to Aberdeen for a business trip, so they were having dinner outside.

Ever since she lost touch with Harry, three months ago, she gradually drifted apart with the other members, excluding Niall, even though they still texted her every now and then. Oddly enough, Chloe, who had never used to acknowledge her existence at school, would always give her a ‘Sup’ nod everytime they passed each other. Or maybe it was a ‘my-friends-are-jealous-that-you-know-1D-but-I-still-hate-your-guts’ nod. Chloe never found out about the kiss Sky and Harry shared in Santorini, and Sky had intended to keep it that way. Sure, Harry had never made it official with the blonde, but Sky still felt guilt nonetheless. Harry left her, much like how he had left Chloe unknowingly, and all she could do was move on.

Just then, as if only to add salt to the wound, she heard the intro of One Direction’s One Thing playing and let out a scoff when she saw her mum’s long finger press a button to change the radio. “Mum, it’s okay,” she laughed, not sure if she meant it.

“Do you really think I’m going to support the career of the boy who hurt my daughter’s feelings?” Mrs. Gibson responded nonchalantly, and Sky wondered if she was joking or not. She’d never meant to tell her mother about even knowing the boys, but everyone found out eventually as papers were published and mouths whispered from one to another.

“Plus I like their other songs more.” Her mum quickly added, causing Sky to chuckle.

It was nice, spending time with your family. Especially when you’re lacking in the friends department or if your childhood bestfriend’s idea of fun is not your cup of tea. Sky smiled to herself, realising Victor was probably getting ready for a party at this very moment. Knowing that she could be doing the same thing, seeing ever since school started people have been bumlicking her to go to their parties, she shook her head. That was just not her.

Sky took a deep breath as her mum pulled over at Cartelo’s driveway, their family’s favourite Italian restaurant. She missed their signature lasagna and enjoyed spending time with her mum and Summer, but something just seemed off.

Talk about good timing, she thought to herself as soon as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

A message from Niall.

“Where on earth r u?? :( the lads n I miss you loads!!!! Liam’s bakin a cake, meet up at his place later??

~~~~~

Three months. It had been three months since Harry had last seen her; three months since he’d finally let his guards down; and three months since he’d confessed just how crazy he was about her.

But then, much to his - and hers, if he was correct - dismay, a call from London changed everything. He knew it was beyond wimpy of him to just pack his stuff and get on the first plane without saying goodbye, but anger got the best of him. He was forced to leave, and he felt that if he was to see her one last time, maybe promise her something he knew he couldn’t keep, he’d be even more furious about the entire thing.

Nonetheless, Harry wasn’t sure why exactly he didn’t even call her once over the past few months. The first week since his arrival back in London, he’d purposely avoided everyone - only speaking when necessary, even to Louis - just so he could focus on music. And just so he could prove to everyone that he was serious about being a singer. That he deserved to be where he was.

That didn’t keep him away from driving by Sky’s school during lunch break or checking her Twitter account, though. He may have acted like a proper douche by leaving her hanging, but for all the time they’d spent together, what he felt was real.

Which made everything hurt more.

Harry hesitantly padded to the door of Liam’s flat, after the sensible member of the band had announced that he baked something in celebratory of One Thing’s success. From the picture Liam had tweeted earlier though, the cake looked nothing like a cake.

The door was slightly open when Harry arrived, and as he entered without a noise, he spotted a pair of women boots by the door and raised his eyebrow. Had Liam finally scored the dancer he’d been obsessed about? Kicking his Vans off nonchalantly, Harry could already hear the chatting and laughs coming from the kitchen.

“Look who’s finally here!” Louis called not-so-softly.

But right after the minute Harry had entered the kitchen lazily, not phased by the burning smell, he stepped back and blinked rapidly. Spotting a familiar girl standing by Liam, her expression amused as she eyed what could only be described as Liam’s fail cake, his heart skipped a beat.

Harry took in her brown eyes, long eyelashes, and peachy cheeks. He noticed she’d gotten a haircut too. The last time Harry had seen this girl, she was smiling sweetly up at him as they got out of the dark closet hand in hand, where they’d shared their first kiss.

Sky.

Before he knew it, she realised his entrance and looked up from the cake, only to look at him in the eye. He wasn’t sure what her look meant, apart from maybe to turn him weak on his knees, but her eyes looked sad and was that - a look of disappointment? Had Harry really broken her heart?

Right at that moment, every inch of his body was telling him to break the eye-contact and go approach her, engulf her in a hug like what he’d wanted weeks ago, or maybe get on his knees and tell her how sorry he was. But before he could do anything, she did the first move and broke the eye-contact. Just like that.

And however much Harry didn’t want to admit, it hurt him. Elbowing Louis slightly, he then nodded to the living room, ordering him to go out.

“What, you’re not even going to say hi?” Louis asked as he handed him a can of beer, almost in a whisper, after the two avoided everyone else. Taking a big sip of the cold beverage, Harry remained unamused, “Why is she here?”

Louis’ eyes widened, and his shoulders raised as if Harry had just said something very stupid. “We asked her to come- the hell, how long are you planning to go on with this?”

“Go on with what?” Harry retorted, pacing back and forth with his hands firm inside his hoodie’s pocket, and Louis responded with a scoff. “Pretending you were never into her? You haven’t seen her for three months, Harry, three fucking months. That’s messed up.”

Frustrated, Harry plopped down on the couch, his hands leaning on his knees as they cover his head. Louis was right, he did mess up and he was aware of it. But all the pressure he had to carry selflessly the past few months have turned him selfish - if Sky did like him, why couldn’t she have called him first? Why couldn’t she make him feel wanted and worthy?

“Fucking forget it.” He cursed under his breath, as he threw back his head on the couch. His eyes closing in hopes he could just fall into a deep sleep and take a break from everything. “She’s probably long over me now.”

But he sincerely hoped she wasn’t. Seeing her again after all those months felt surreal, like an avid fan who finally got to see their celebrity idol even for only a mere minute. Or like a single workaholic who accidentally came across his now married high school sweetheart. Bittersweet.

“She’s only spoken three words since she arrived.” Louis spoke again, and Harry reluctantly opened his eyes. “She’s not willing to tell us any stories from school, and that, that laugh she had because of Liam’s cake - it took awhile.”

Harry blinked in response and Louis rolled his eyes. “You, mate, are the reason she’s not smiling.” He began, his Yorkshire accent thick, “now I don’t know much about relationships and how it’s supposed to work since I’ve screwed up a couple of times too - but the look she had on her face when she saw you, it’s real, Harry. She’s a keeper.”

The curly boy sighed, as all kinds of emotions flushed through him. He loved Sky, he knew he did, but he wasn’t sure just yet whether he’d risk being together with her despite all the possible death threats coming from his fans - and he wasn’t sure if she’d take that risk, too.

But he got up of the couch nevertheless. He wanted to see her again, have a proper hey-I-haven’t-seen-you-in-awhile hug and say sorry for being such a jerk. She may no longer have anything to do with him, but at least everything would be clearer. And maybe easier than this.

So he padded over to the kitchen door, his gaze fixed on the marble floor that for some reason seemed to mask his shame well. He looked up slowly, quite literally taking baby steps to her direction, where she stood earlier next to Niall. Speaking of that fellow, Harry had noticed the Irish lad seemed to care a lot about Sky. What the hell was that about?

But he took a deep breath again, letting it go. Even if Niall had built a shrine dedicated to her, nothing would happen if the only person she had her eyes set on was someone else. Now he was more determined than ever to make that ‘someone else’ - him.

Or maybe not. Maybe it was too late.

When Harry’s eyes landed on the lean figure, he felt anger building up as he spotted a blonde boy, contently feeding her Liam’s absurd excuse of a cake.

Giggles filled the air. Maybe his eyes were deceiving him, but the pair seemed oblivious to the rest of the world.

Without a word, he turned around, not giving the slightest shit about how weird he’d looked entering the room and getting out quickly, and went past the door. Louis who was just on his way in, stopped his tracks as he placed his hand out to Harry’s chest, “What happened?”

Harry was furious. He was upset at how the stinging pain of betrayal didn’t seem to want to leave his system anytime soon. Feeding each other food are we, he thought to himself as he clenched his fists.

He swung open the entrance door and got out. As he took one last glance, looking at a puzzled Louis, his eyes filled with fury, “It’s over. Before it even began.”

With that, he banged the door, his heavy breathing being the only sound in the silent hallway. He momentarily paused, trying to calm his nerves, before he pressed the lift button.

He knew just where he needed to go next.

Chapter 23

Harry felt the sun shining brightly behind his eyelids, and his eyes began to flutter before blinking rapidly. His fists reached up to rub his eyes as he then raised his hands over his head to stretch out.

After several minutes of tuning in to real life, he woke up groggily. First thing he noticed was the pastel cream wallpaper and the smell of Vera Wang’s Princess - which was oddly familiar. This room was not his.

This revelation made him get up almost in an instant, placing his elbows on the bouncy bed to keep his weight balanced, as he observed the room more carefully. The vanity by the window had a massive mirror and was filled with all kinds of make up containers - this was obviously a girl’s room -; 2 pairs of very high heels were placed on the corner, with one black pump scattered on the carpet without its pair - this was not Sky’s either, however relevant that info was -; but it was the picture by the door that surprised him the most.

A picture of a little Chloe Adlington taken whilst she was doing a pirouette. Her bun looked so tight that there was no blonde strand on her face, and she didn’t look like her normal, glamorous self in that humble white tutu.

What the hell happened last night?

Almost immediately, Harry looked down at his chest, and felt a pang of relief when he felt the boxers he was wearing, even though his bare chest was on expose, his thread necklace was still on place.

This was not good. This was very not good.

From all that he gathered five minutes since he’d woken up, he must’ve ended up at Chloe’s house since his storm out of Liam’s flat. He didn’t know how or why, but he’d even spent the night over, at the house of the girl he had no longer wanted anything to do with. At least, before last night.

Just then, the doorknob clicked and slowly, the door creaked open. The blonde doll-like girl entered the room tiptoeing , and when she spotted Harry staring at her, she took a step back and placed her palm on her chest, “You’re awake!” She said, excitement oozing from her face as she beamed.

She had on a nightrobe, and even though Harry didn’t want to imagine anything, he sincerely hoped she had something under. Feeling uncomfortable with his laid position, he got up and sat on the edge of the bed. “What happened last night?” He asked, his voice in a whisper.

Chloe chuckled. “No one’s home. No need to whisper.”

But Harry didn’t care. She hadn’t answered his question, and he was determined to find the answer. Fast. “What happened last night?” He repeated, his voice still low.

And Chloe still responded with a laugh. This time, however, her eyebrow raised in what could only be described as fear. But she wasn’t Chloe Adlington if she couldn’t turn the table easily. She took the black pump by the door and hovered to the corner of the room and took its pair, before placing them on the corner. Once she did so, she settled gently in front of the vanity, her bum leaning against the table. With the way she stood and her arms across her chest, Harry, who was looking up helplessly at her, looked so weak.

“You really don’t remember what happened last night, do you?”

~~~~~

He looked behind his shoulder, glancing at the mansion right across the road. Reminiscing, he observed the fountain on the front yard next to the big tree that lead to the second floor balcony. The one he’d once climbed over, leading to the room he once visited.

But that was not his current destination.

After stopping by the empty pub near Liam’s flat and downed four cans in less than an hour, he’d sloppily made his way to this grey, as grand mansion. Contrary to the one across the road, however, there was no sense of welcoming or warmth.

Closing his eyes, he pressed the bell.

The mahogany door opened slowly, and a green eye peeked out. “Mum… Dad?” He heard her ask, feeling a sense of sympathy at how cautious she was being. Her parents must be away from home often. Like Sky’s.

“No… It’s Harry,” he responded, and the door immediately flung open. Chloe Adlington was wearing an XL - eventhough her body looked like an S at most - sweater that covered half of her thighs and exposed her left shoulder. Beneath it, she had black stockings on and she wore a pair of black uggs. Harry could’ve sworn he spotted joy in her eyes before she quickly covered it up with her eyebrows raising.

“Can I come in?”

She scoffed, her hands firm on her hips. Her nose scrunched up upon smelling the alcohol coming from him and that was when she realised he was most likely drunk. “What, did things not go well with Little Miss Gibby?” Harry took a breath, realising the nickname came from Sky’s last name, Gibson. Still, despite her remark, she stepped aside, just enough for him to pass by.

He walked in and took in the dark atmosphere. Most of the lights were off, the only source being the fire from the fireplace. Next to it, stood a tall armoire filled with liquors. Pictures were hung everywhere too - but in contrast to Sky, whose pictures were of her family in picnics or doing random poses - the ones here were mostly of Chloe doing ballet or of her Mr. and Mrs. Adlington with famous people. Wait was that a picture of them and Oprah?

“Answer my question, curly.” He heard her ask behind his back. “I’m not just going to be some last resort of yours. And I’m definitely not going to take Sky Gibson’s leftovers.”

Was Chloe always this feisty?

“I fucked up.” He stated curtly, sitting down on the couch, and she rolled her eyes. She hated how patethic he was being. Most importantly, though, she hated how she wasn’t the person he cared enough for to turn him this frustrated.

Chloe padded over to the couch and looked down at him whilst he entwined his hands behind his neck, ashamed. Slowly, she sat on her knees and placed a hand on his knee. She’d never done this before, comfort someone. “Don’t you get it? You and I, we’re the same kind of people, Harry. We’re not meant to be with hopeless romantics like Sky or Liam or Niall.”

She could hear him scoff, except it sounded rather odd. Suspicious, she took him by the chin and liften his head up, and with the help of the fire behind them she was able to see his face. She wished she hadn’t.

Because he was crying.

Skylar Gibson, her classmate who oddly enough got good marks without even studying; the girl who only got the role of a sheep at their Year 9 St. George and the Dragon play; the girl whose beauty no guy seemed to be aware of, had the power to do this to a Harry Styles.

He wasn’t sobbing, not quite, but tears already filled up his eyes and some had even streamed down his cheeks. Chloe had to blink several times to realise this was actually happening.

“Oh my God.” She stated, a twang of jealousy hanging down her throat. “You’re not crying because of her, okay, you’re not. You shouldn’t.”

He didn’t listen. Instead, he buried his face under his arms once more, clearly feeling embarrassed she’d witness him at his lowest point. What was he thinking anyway - coming to Chloe Adlington’s house to let his guard down?

But he was vulnerable.

He’d cried multiple times on TV, when he hadn’t gotten through as a soloist on the X Factor as well as that one time on their documentary. This, however, was the first time he’d cried over a girl.

Chloe didn’t say anything more. Instead, she stood up and put her hand out. He still didn’t move, and it began to irk her. Grabbing his hand, she led him to the stairs. The entire time he had his head down, but mid-way through the stairs he stopped, tugging her hand lightly. “What are you doing?” He asked, as if he just got in reality.

She paused and turned around, looking down at him. “Look at you. You look like shit - you’re sleeping over tonight.”

He paused. Had he really liked this girl once?

The two entered her room in silence, and she didn’t bother turning the lights on. Harry took a deep breath. He was exhausted, but this still didn’t feel right. Chloe had already gone into the bathroom when he settled at the very end of the bed, curling his sock-covered feet.

And just like that, he dozed off to sleep, not hearing another word from Chloe apart of her footsteps before he felt another weight at the end of the bed. He felt her reach for his back, but he didn’t say a word when all she did was place her palm there.

~~~~~

Brief silence filled the air since Chloe asked the question, and Harry couldn’t stand it any longer. He needed to know just what happened last night, except he could remember nothing. He did remember stopping by a pub but he didn’t know just what kinds of drinks he could have possibly had to possess his mind to let the night go like this. Spending the night at Chloe’s, seriously?

Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his damp curls and when he looked up, he spotted his jeans hung over an armchair. Getting up, he grabbed them and shuffled slightly while putting them on. Zipping them up, he looked at Chloe again. He needed to drop the bomb.

“Did I sleep with you or not?”

He seemed to have caught her offguard with the bluntness in his voice, but she immediately regained composure as she stood straight. Laughing, she then asked, “What do you think?”

“I have no time for this.” Harry responded, groaning. He grabbed his gray v-neck and red hoodie to put them on, no longer bothered. She was drilling him nuts, and if she wasn’t even going to give him an answer, he was wasting his time.

Looking down at the nightstand, he grabbed his phone as well as his sneakers and socks off the carpet. The sweet smell of her perfume began to sicken him, and he needed to get out of the room fast.

“So uh, listen,” he began, his eyes focused on the phone screen, “whatever happened last night - if anything happened last night,” he corrected himself, “I’m sorry about it. And uh, thanks for letting me stay.”

With that, he patted his legs and headed to the door, trying his best to ignore the appalled look plastered on Chloe’s face. He could almost see the steam coming out of her ears: she obviously wasn’t pleased with his treatment. Calmly, he passed by her and grabbed the doorknob. He twisted it around, and flung the door open, before being interrupted.

“Yes.” He heard a voice, saying the word so quick as if in a hurry.

He turned around, looking at Chloe who didn’t want to meet his eyes, her face flushed with doubts. Was she bluffing? “Pardon?” He asked, eventhough he clearly heard what she’d just said. Knowing what she was going to say next, he held on the doorknob tighter.

She finally looked up, and spoke, her voice shaky, “Yes, you did sleep with me.”

Harry didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Chapter 24

It was a gloomy Wednesday afternoon, and Sky was sitting helplessly on the corner of the canteen, staring down at her lunch.

Her life had gone back to its old, dull routine, after the day she’d finally met Harry again. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought anything would happen, so when all Harry did was look at her in the eye, a bemused look on his face, she’d figured there was no point and looked away.

Then he randomly stormed out of Liam’s flat.

Sure, he’d come in the kitchen right when Niall was feeding her cake, but could that have possibly been the reason? Why would - no, what right did he have to be jealous over another guy feeding her food? Stabbing the broccoli on her food tray, her gaze looked up when she noticed a pair of skinny legs by the other end of her table.

The girl was petite and skinny, her long auburn hair shaped into loose curls looking as though they’d been made professionally, her hair parted in the middle. She looked down at Sky with some sort of hope behind her gleam, as she held on tighter to the novel she was reading. One of Haruki Murakami’s thick books, how interesting.

Shoving a ‘forkful’ of mashed potato inside her mouth, Sky squinted her eyes. The girl looked awfully familiar. She almost resisted asking because the girl looked different, as if she’d gone under a makeover, but then she recognised the watch the girl was wearing. “Woah, wait- Eva?”

‘Eva’ immediately grinned contentedly as soon as Sky recognised her, relieved. “Yes, Skylar! I had French with you last year!” She said, plopping down on the bench across hers.

Sky nodded excitedly, studying her friend’s new look. She never would have recognised her if it wasn’t for the book Eva was holding. Just a few months ago, Eva Weaver - often referred simply as ‘Weaver’ by Chloe and her clique - was the definition of a typical school loner, watching things from afar. Sky barely saw her around school, excluding French class and the occasional ‘hello’ nod they’d do everytime she spotted her in front of the library after field hockey practice.

Then there was the thing with Harry, too.

Somehow, he’d found out about Eva’s obsession towards his band and asked Sky to deliver his blazer to her. That was odd, a blazer, really? Then again, if Eva was the stereotypical definition of a loser, then Harry would be the definition of all kinds of odds. Sky shook her head. Stop thinking about him.

“How come I never see you around?” Sky asked, as her friend opened the lunchbox she must’ve had brought from home.

Eva smiled again. “I dropped French for Sociology,” she began, taking a bite from her sandwich. “I figured since I had trouble socialising with people, I might as well learn about them.”

Sky breathed a sigh of guilt. She was aware of the bullying Eva had to go through last year, but she’d been too caught up with her school-sucks-can’t-wait-to-get-outta-here belief that she never really bothered helping her. “Oh, Eva,” she frowned, dropping her fork. “I should have been there to defend you.”

“And go against Chloe and her friends?” Eva asked, laughing. “It’s okay, Skylar. My parents sent me to an American summer school in July, I learnt how to make friends.” She went on, clearly happy about the experience.

“That must’ve been a good summer.” Sky commented, peeling open her banana.

“What about you then?” Eva asked, changing the subject. “Surely you had fun with One Direction?” She added, no touch of sarcasm in her question, just curiosity mixed with fangirling.

Sky laughed, remembering that day where she handed her Harry’s blazer: how her jaw dropped knowing she knew One Direction personally; how she thanked her hundredth times; and how happy it made her. Thinking about it now, One Direction were definitely massive.

She knew she’d spent time away with them all the way in Greece, but just thinking about it now, in early December, let alone talking about it to a friend, felt surreal. As if it never happened. Shrugging, she smiled, “I had an okay summer.”

“Dis donc!” Eva laughed, using the French ‘Tell me about it!’ expression their old teacher, Madame Guibet always used.

“It was just… A phase kind of thing,” Sky went on, not wanting to seem like she was boasting. To her, they felt like normal boys. “…We grew apart.” She softly added, realising that everything had come down to this, whilst staring down at her unfinished meal.

She could feel Eva staring at her, and there was a hint of sympathy, but it was mostly covered with admiration. “I don’t think you did,” the auburn haired commented shyly, “you talk about them much less than Chloe does. God, everytime I pass by her, she’s always on about them!”

Sky chuckled at her statement, before Eva went on. “But you - you don’t. They must mean more to you.”

“You think so?” Sky asked, feeling timid as she was put on the spot, so she settled to grab her hair and tie it in a loose bun, a habit she had to alter people’s attention.

“Of course. Less is more.”

At that moment an impossibly tall, stunning, athletic girl with short lightly highlighted curls approached the table, looking like a younger Gisele Bundchen with short hair. She strode past Eva and sat next to her reluctantly, placing her elbow on the table with her back against Sky.

“How’s little Evie doing here?” She asked, patting Eva’s head, a hint of Scandinavian in her accent. She was the new girl, the one Sky had numerously spotted following Chloe Adlington like a lost puppy.

She brought the wrong vibe. Pushing her tray aside, Sky gulped, before crossing her arms and placing them down on the table. Just five minutes ago she’d regretted not helping Eva, and she was not going to repeat herself twice.

“I’m okay…” Eva mumbled in fear, and almost immediately, the new girl’s hand cupped her chin, her thumb pressing Eve’s left cheek whilst her other fingers pressed the right. Sky’s eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed the girl’s wrist, “Hey, I don’t think that’s very necessary-“

The new girl shot a glare at Sky, incredulous at how she had the guts to meddle. Her glare went from Sky’s eyes to her covered wrist then back to her eyes, as if demanding her to let go this very instant.

“Oh, and what do you know, Little Miss Gibby?” The girl spat, pulling her hand away roughly from the grip, and Sky’s eyebrow raised at the foreign nickname. Last time she checked they never had classes together, so who was she to give her a nickname?

So she opted in challening back.”Do I even know you?” She asked calmly, feeling Eva glare at her - a warning glare that told her she better shut her mouth or things are going to get very ugly.

“Hmm, perhaps not.” The girl replied, spinning on her butt so she was now fully facing Sky. “But you may know of my friend here,” she went on, and a peal of laughter caught Sky’s attention. There was a newcomer approaching their table. No one other than Amy Wright, Chloe’s supposed BFF, otherwise known as the most evil of the group.

Three things Sky had always known about Amy: A) She idolised Chloe, B) She had always had this one-sided crush towards Victor, Sky’s childhood friend, and C) She despised everyone that was not on the same popularity status as her, for some unknown reason that only civilians of the Mean Girls planet knew.

“Ladies,” Amy greeted, taking a step to the table closer so she was now stood just behind both Eva and the new girl. Then, she gave Eva a light pat on the back, “oh my God, Eves, I don’t think I’m over your makeover. Look at you, stunner!” She exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from every word, earning a fit of laughter from the new girl.

Eva looked up, and Sky could see fear flushing from her face, that same horrified look she always had whenever Chloe’s group were on her. But then, much to everyone’s surprise, her eyebrows knitted. “Not as stunning as you, of course. I mean look at that new nose piercing you got, it really brings out the inner badass in you.”

Sky’s jaw dropped, and so did the other two girls’, upon Eva’s remark. It was as if someone else had taken over her body, and Amy didn’t look pleased. At all. She bit the inside of her lower lip, as if thinking of something nasty to say, before smirking again. “Wow, Weaver, never thought you had it in you,” she paused, “But ya know what? You’re still that old loser no one gives two shits about, so you better apologise to me right now, and piss off.” Amy went on, grabbing Eva by the tie, so she was now stood up.

Eva’s body began trembling in fear, as she nodded, whimpering a sorry and Sky couldn’t help but sigh knowing Eva had let her fear take control again. She knew she could take care of herself without Eva’s help, but it was still incredible to see the bookworm stand up for something, even for only a glorious one minute.

Sky looked up and met Eva’s eyes briefly, but she knew just the message behind them: “I’m sorry.” So she shook her head, subtle enough for the other two girls to not notice, and mouthed an “It’s okay.”

Then Amy pushed, or technically, shoved Eva away before turning around again, forgetting something. “I want no teacher to hear about this. Got it?” Sky could hear her threat.

Just like that, she saw Eva slowly walk away, her book in hand. The girl occasionally looked back at her, guilt plastered on her face, before she was covered by the swimming crowd of other people in the canteen. Normally other girls would try to escape when confronted by Amy or any other member of the popular group, but Sky stayed perfectly still. There was no point, Amy had clearly sent Eva, the ultimate bullies’ prey, away because she was not their current target. Sky was.

Then, Amy went back to sit down across her, exhaling a sigh of relief. “Well now that’s over with,” she mumbled under her breath, turning her attention to Sky, as she put on the friendliest-looking smile. “I don’t trust you know who Anya is?” She asked, referring to the new girl who was now smiling smugly.

Sky raised an eyebrow, unamused. She glanced at the giant clock right behind Amy’s head and realised that in less than five minutes, lunch was ending and they were going to have… Free period. Wow, seriously? That meant the girls were not going to let her go easily and—

“-she’s Norwegian and just moved from Dubai, how cool is that?” Amy went on, faking her impressed smile a little too much. Sky knew this because nothing impressed Amy easily. Then, her smile was replaced by her trademark smirk, and she placed her elbow on Anya’s shoulder. The minute Amy walked in she’d treated the girl as if she was an invention of hers, a mere property, and Anya seemed totally oblivious. Did they not have mean girls in Norway and Dubai?

“Most importantly, though, I’ve told her all about you,” Amy said, patting Anya on the arm. “Wanna guess what she thinks about you?”

Then, Anya stood up, towering over the table as she did so, and plopped down next to Sky. The pat. That must’ve been a signal from Amy, Sky thought. They’ve planned this.

Sky’s body tensed up, alarmed. The bell was going to ring in about a minute and she realised everyone else had gone out of the canteen, probably taking their books, and even the staff seemed to all be in the kitchen, busy cleaning up. All she could hear was Amy’s long manicured nails tapping against the table in a rhythm, her right hand playing with the new rhinestone stud on her nose. Waiting for an answer.

“Not quite, no, I don’t think I’d really ca-” Sky was just about to get up before a hand quickly grabbed her wrist and took control, pulling her back on the seat. As expected, Anya’s.

Amy seemed to find the whole situation amusing, as she was now covering her hysterical laughter with her palm, amused, whilst Sky fell silent, feeling Anya’s nails digging onto her wrist. Intrigued, Amy placed both her elbows on the table, entwining her fingers. “But seriously,” she spoke, suddenly serious again. “Anya can’t stand you.”

“In other words?” Anya spoke up finally, her grip getting tighter on Sky’s wrist. “You. Sicken. Me.”

Amy and Anya should’ve had known better. They should’ve had known that words had very little effect on Sky Gibson, that she wouldn’t take things to heart unless she told her heart to. When the words slurred out of Anya’s second language tongue, Sky almost scoffed. What had Amy thought? That she’d be depressed because of an insult from a girl she didn’t even know?

Could it be, that she’d overestimated the evil Amy?

At least that’s the question she wished she could’ve answered, because right at that moment: right when the bell rang; right after Anya finished her sentence; and right when Sky spotted Amy snickering as she looked up at God knew what, everything went black.

~~~~~

Saying he had messed up would be the biggest understatement of the year. He had led the girl on, showed he hadn’t infact let the girl on, left the girl, not contacted the girl, only to ended up sleeping with some other girl. Harry couldn’t help but wonder, was he suffering from some sort of a split personality disorder that brought out the inner asshole in him?

He looked around the empty make-up room and looked at his own reflection in the mirror. Frowning. What exactly did people see in him?

One Direction had just finished a winter themed photoshoot, and earlier that day they had taping for an interview. It was safe to say that they were currently the most popular boyband in the nation, so any sane boy getting the opportunity to be a member should feel like on top of the world. Harry did, too, but the troubling thoughts that weren’t willing on leaving his head kept him from being proud. They kept him from being happy.

A few days had passed since that horrifying day where he’d woken up at Chloe’s, to find out that he’d supposedly slept with her. Every inch of his body was shrugging as if they don’t know the answer, but something within him kept telling him it never happened. For days, he’d become a war between Heart vs. Mind, between relying on his instincts or Chloe’s words. Surely that girl couldn’t have lied about such a big thing? Then again, that girl was the same girl who’d struck him with her supposed kindness, only to have him step back when he’d found out she was a bully.

Just then, someone at the door cleared their throat and he looked up quickly, seeing Niall. Harry must’ve been too deep in his thoughts that he didn’t hear his mate entering.

“Everything alright, man?” He asked, looking down at his phone on his lap. He didn’t dare looking at Niall in the eye. He knew the Irish lad harboured some kind of feelings towards Sky, and knowing he’d betrayed the girl just a few days ago felt terrible. Wait - betrayed? Were they ever together anyway? Didn’t Sky prove him wrong when she let Niall feed—

“-Whatcha think?” Niall responded, crashing Harry’s train of thoughts. “I’m over the moon, yeah, loving life, just brill.” The blonde added, although his face was straight, as he threw himself on the couch.

Harry gulped, rubbing his forehead as his elbow leaned against the arm of the make-up chair. “Is that it?” He heard himself ask, looking at up at Niall’s reflection in the mirror.

Niall let out a scoff, his own elbows resting against his knees, before he shook his head. “Nah, that’s not it,” he spoke, his eyes gleaming with a kind of… protectiveness. He looked at Harry from the mirror and bit the inside of his cheek, as if signaling him what he was going to talk about. “A while ago… you were all over Chloe. Then you shifted to Sky. Now you’re just… there, putting on that pateth sad face of yours,” he said, his hands hovering around as he looked for the right words to say. Then he looked up, “What is it that you want, mate?”

Harry scoffed, “I sure can answer that question for you, mate.” He said, before mentally facepalming himself as he did so. Why was he trying to win an argument with Niall anyway? Borderline was, Niall would win either way because he was not an asshole. Unlike him.

Too late, though, because Niall had already heard him. “What do you mean?” He asked, straightening up his sitting position. “That I want Sky?”

“Don’t you?” Harry retorted, no longer looking at Niall’s reflection, as the button on his blazer looked very interesting all of a sudden.

Niall laughed, and he shook his head briefly, before standing up. “I did, yeah. I wanted her. I wanted her bad,” he spoke, knowing every word was hitting Harry’s weak spots. “Now I’m not the brightest crayon outta the box, but do you think the word beautiful is even good enough to describe her, man? I don’t.” He went on, and Harry knew just what one of his bestmates was trying to do, and since he couldn’t control his now clenching fists, might as well fall for Niall’s trap.

“You like her that much, don’t you?” Harry snapped, finally getting up of the chair. “Get her, then! Screw your chances, be depressed, get hammered and go to her or some other girl’s house for that matter, who knows what you’ll wake up to in the morning!”

Niall stayed silent, and Harry could hear the oblivious chattering outside of the make-up door. If he was to get any louder, people would immediately come in. He groaned, before settling down on his seat in shame. “Fuckin idiot,” he heard Niall mumble under his breath. “You broke her heart and you don’t even realise. I’m giving you another chance to go fix her before I do, and you’re still stupid enough to not understand.” He continued, before flinging the door open and exiting the room.

Harry wanted to fix Sky.

After about five minutes or so, as Harry glanced over to the window, spying a familiar building, he sighed. Sky’s school. The place they’d first met, the place that started everything.

Then he immediately stood up, as an idea ran across his head. Running out of the make-up room, he spotted Niall, who just got out of the restroom seemingly to wash his face, and gave him a pat in the back.

“Where you off to?” The blonde asked, surprised.

“To fix things.” Harry quickly responded, before sprinting out of the studio. He was being impulsive. The fact that her school was just about 1 km away drove him to run as quick as he can, just to see her again. Just to fix things.

Wrapping his thick scarf around as he rapidly yet cautiously crossed the avenue, he shoved his hands to his coat’s pockets. He was more determined than ever.

About less than 10 minutes had passed when he finally arrived at the gate, feeling lucky when he realised there was no guard. The ancient looking building sent off that similar ‘school’ vibe he always had whenever he arrived at his own school in his scooter back in Cheshire, and he took a deep breath just to reminisce.

Entering the grand hallway, a frown crept to his face as he spotted no one at all, meaning he’d missed the lunchbreak. Sighing, he kicked the marble floor. His luck must’ve stopped by the guard post. As he pressed on his heel to turn around, planning on somehow waiting for another bell to ring to find Sky, he spotted auburn locks coming from the other way, running straight into his chest.

“Careful there,” he laughed, helping the girl stand up properly again, before she looked up, her eyes filled with anxiety.

“Oh my, you! Oh-” she cried in surprise, after brushing down her pleated skirt. “you! You need to come with me- oh my God what am I going to do- come!” She suddenly said, grabbing him by the arm, leading them to a place Harry had no idea would exist in such a posh private school.

Chapter 25

The girl looked awfully familiar, Harry kept thinking to himself as his body was dragged by the hand, following the petite brunette around the school. Although, to be very precise, it didn’t feel like the school area at all. The two had passed a space between two walls, squeezing themselves as they did so, and ended up at an alleyway, looking like it had no relation with the posh private school they’d been at earlier.

It was all happening so fast, and before he knew it, they arrived at a some sort of a clearing, even though there was no car. Harry’s nose scrunched up upon the strong smell of cigarette filling the air, and despite the fact that they were in broad daylight, the place brought an eerie vibe, and it clearly brought goosebumps to the brunette.

“Oh my-” she whimpered, her eyes big as they scanned the empty, deserted looking land. “This can’t be- this is where they bring them…” She went on as Harry’s confusion continuously increased. He grabbed the girls by the shoulders, shaking her lightly to prevent her zoning out from reality.

“Do I know you?” He finally asked, as soon as they had eye-contact. “And why did you drag me all the way here?”

The girl bit hard on her lip, whilst Harry looked shattered. She looked up at him, her eyebrows arching downwards, before a sad smile crept to her face. “I haven’t thanked you for the blazer,” she murmured.

Harry’s faze shifted to the right, and a surprised look of understanding swept over his face. “Oh. Oh. You’re that girl, Eva!”

Her face beamed after hearing his realisation, but a frown quickly covered it up. “Listen, your friend Sky, she’s in trouble.” Her voice dropped half an octave. “And I brought you here to help her because this is where they’d normally bring… people, but as you can see they’re not here and-“

The slurring words sliced through Harry’s brain as an uncomfortable lump built up in his throat. “What trouble?” He asked, in a hoarse, scratchy voice, his tone demanding. Then he noticed what Eva had just said, and his feelings became even out of control. “Who do you mean by ‘they’? And ‘bring people’… What’s that supposed to mean?!”

All of a sudden, a chain reaction went off in Harry’s head, images rolling into new images. A memory of Eva, the helpless petite girl, trembling slightly as three girls her age, one familiar blonde, spat one insult and another to her face. The idea of the girls harshly bullying others ran into his head, making him gulp.

As if his thoughts were being broadcasted, Eva nodded, “I don’t know- I don’t know why, but Chloe seems to have something to do with this.”

Harry nodded in understanding, eventhough every inch of him was trembling, wondering how Sky was doing. Now, he was determined to make sure she was okay.

~~~~~

With her vision covered by what seemed to have been a sack due to her lack of oxygen, Sky’s feet tripped beneath her, dragging on the smooth floor. The pressure on her neck went away as she fell on her side.

Terror filled her as little giggles filled the air.

After a little click, Sky could feel the room’s lights turned on, and the aroma of a newly lit cigarette drifted into her nostrils. Someone giggled again. Another one was kicking lightly on her knee. Who were these people?

“Flippin’ hell, what are we, gangsters?”

Suddenly the sack was pulled off from Sky’s head, and the blinding light greeted her. Despite the fact that her vision was still blurry, a familiar girl with blonde hair, green eyes and a thin waist hovered in front of her. No way. Chloe? ”And why did you guys take so long?” The girl snapped, the sack previously covering Sky’s head thrown on the far end of the room.

The next thing she knew, Sky was being carried by Anya, who clearly didn’t look like she was struggling, and seated on a chair. “What are you guys doing…” She managed to let out, her voice a bare whisper, as the Scandinavian girl towered behind her and took her hand, seemingly to tie a knot to the chair. How many action movies do these girls watch a day?

“Oh, as if being covered by a sack hurt you that much.” Amy snorted, playing with her nails. The tanned girl was no longer wearing her school blazer and instead, she was covered by a knee-length coat, long enough to cover her entire school uniform.

Chloe, on the other hand, was not wearing a uniform at all. Her hair was tied into a constructed bun, and she was wearing tights, barefoot. That was when everything sunk in, as Sky’s attention scanned around the room. The ‘room’, she finally came to notice, was in fact a dancing studio, with gigantic mirrors stuck on one side of the walls. With the way Chloe was dressed, it was without a doubt a ballet studio, where the blonde doll-like girl must’ve been practising whilst her friends brought Sky here. It was all planned.

“Enough with your remarks, Amy.” Chloe stated curtly, her gaze never landing on Sky’s eyes. In spite of her intimidating demeanour, she stood awkwardly behind the two other girls, her eyes focused on her own reflection in the mirror, as she slowly, yet gracefully, brought her leg up in the air. And spun.

Amy scoffed, her tiny nose folding a little. “Your ballet instructor doesn’t mind you smoking?” She challenged, referring to the smell of cigarette in the air. “I thought your mother hated the smell.”

As if Amy’s words cut through her skin, Chloe’s eyes jotted widely, her defined cheeks turning almost immediately to a colour of pink, as she bolted to the tanned girl’s direction, her hand positioned like a lobster’s claw. Sky’s jaw dropped as soon as Chloe’s hand caught Amy’s chin, tilting it upwards. “Got enough guts to mock me now, do you Amy?” She asked, even though Amy seemed to find her question highly amusing.

“Woah,” Sky blurted, struggling to find her voice. “Calm down-“

“-and who are you to tell me to calm down?” Chloe cut her off, her hand snatched away from Amy’s chin. She walked towards Sky’s direction this time, her eyes filled with fury. Sky, unaffected, looked back, trying to find any trace of pain in the girl’s green orbs. And she found it.

But before she could do anything, she saw a hard, rock like object being thrown to her direction, hitting a spot on her forehead, before cracking. Catching the familiar smell and seeing a yolk-like substance dripping down from her hair, Sky’s eyebrows shot up. Eggs, seriously?

“Come on, when was the fun going to start?” She heard Amy giggle, a carton of eggs stood by her foot. Anya, who had apparently been standing by her chair, threw white flakes in the air, landing on Sky’s hair. “This’ is how we make pancakes! Flour!”

The two girls fell into fits of laughter, as another egg was thrown and more flour was poured. Chloe, however, stood there, a disgusted look on her face as her green eyes pierced Sky.

Sky looked down at her dirty uniform, taking a deep breath. She noticed there was a hole on her knee sock, a bloody bruise on full display, probably from all the dragging earlier. Looking up, her lips formed a single question, and she was careful to use the right tone. She ignored the smell of yolk and the flour on the tip of her nose and asked, “What have I done to you?”

Even though she had purposely asked in such a gentle tone, not wanting to add fuel to the clearly upset fire, Chloe’s seemed unaware and her cheeks flushed red once again. Sky watched with wide eyes as Chloe raised her right hand, and with such a strong force, landing it on her left cheek.

Slap.

The stinging pain immediately appeared and Sky quickly wiped her cheek on her shoulder, aware that her hands were firmly knotted behind her back. Well, ouch. That was uncalled for, she thought, noticing that the other girls in the room too, had their jaws dropped.

She gained composure and looked back up, tiny droplets of sweat forming on her forehead. “Can’t even answer my question, so you resort to vio-“

Slap.

Okay, now that really was not necessary.

“You stole him away from me!” Chloe cried, before Sky could even take the pain of the slap in. Her green eyes were filled with tears, and her bun has gone deconstructed. Amy and Anya had both taken a closer step in order to calm their alpha down, before the blonde snatched away her arms from their grip. “He was mine! He liked me, and it was all going so well until you came along! He wasn’t supposed to like you!”

Sky watched helplessly as Chloe went on with her tantrum, and uncomfortable feeling growing in her gut. She couldn’t help but wonder: the entire day, Amy and Anya dragging her here, Chloe slapping her twice… Was all for a guy? Was this the effect Harry Styles had on people, despite how soft his curls or how irresistable his dimples were?

The words Chloe had just shouted rang in her head. She was right, Harry wasn’t supposed to like her. The familiar thought of not being good enough began to build up in her head, sending off a more painful feeling than what the slap earlier caused.

“I had everything, at least that’s what I thought, until Harry came and made me realise I wanted more,” Chloe said, dropping on her feet, “and it baffled me that he wanted me back, it baffled me so much that I’d refused to believe.”

“Why did it baffle you?” Sky asked, the pain on her forehead and cheek making her wince.

Chloe let out a scoff and shot her a duh look. “Because it was far too good to be true? I grew up thinking I have to live up to my parents’ expectations all the time. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be going to our school, I wouldn’t be pursuing ballet. But Harry? Harry has nothing to do with them. He wanted me for me, not because my parents helped me get him!” She stood up again, and the scene became far too manic for Sky to bear. Chloe had it all wrong, and she wanted to tell her that. So she did.

“You’re wrong.” She whispered, loud enough for the blonde to glare back. “He did want you for you… Except there was one thing.”

Chloe took a step closer, intrigued, and Sky took a deep breath, ignoring her shaking fingers. Time seemed to slow down a little, and Sky spotted Anya standing by Amy. The foreign girl’s expression was filled with warning, almost as if she was scared for what Chloe may do to her. Amy, on the other hand, didn’t seem to even have the guts to look, as her shoes seemed to suddenly become so interesting to her.

Sky huffed. “The Chloe he thought he’d like, and the actual Chloe Adlington… They’re two completely different people.” She said, waiting a second to see if Chloe was going to do something stupid, before letting out a sigh of relief when all the blonde did was drop back down.

Sky inhaled again, keeping in the odd tears that were building up on her own eyes, just because she felt bad looking at the vulnerable girl in front of her. “I’m sorry that you’re hurting.” She said, biting the inside of her lower lip. “But I’m not going to apologise for him leaving you, because truth of the matter is, no one gets everything.”

Right at the moment, there was a knock on the door, and everyone became alarmed, excluding Chloe, who sat helplessly, her eyes blanked as they stared at her own reflection in the mirror. Anya who was closest to the door, rushed and leaned against it, panicking. “What do we do? Amy, what do we do?!”

“What if it’s Chloe’s mum?!” Amy shot back. She ran to Chloe, who was still sitting as if she was numb, and sighed. “No, can’t be her, she’s away from town…” The brunette thought, tapping her flat shoe against the wooden floor.

Then she looked at Sky: the bruise on her knee; the yolk and flour on her hair; her red cheek. Gulping, she turned back to the door, aware someone at the other side was going to knock it down if they didn’t open it anytime soon.

“Someone’s crashing our little party.” She stated, right when the door flung open.

Chapter 26

“What do we do? Amy, what do we do?!”

Harry gulped, as soon as he heard the panicked voice of a girl coming from the other side of the door. He’d immediately told Eva to go back to school as soon as the place she’d brought him to turned out to be empty. His second instincts then told him that if Chloe did in fact have something to do with Sky going missing, then the place they were at would definitely have something to do with the ballerina.

And that was when he realised, after brainstorming for a minute, picturing Chloe in a white tutu, that the place he needed to go to was the e-Motions Dance Studio. He’d never been to the actual place before, except he remembered the name clearly from weeks ago, when he’d gone to the Adlingtons’ house and spotted the name on one of Chloe’s ballet pictures. Whoever thought observing people’s personal things would come in handy?

He heard a few mutters coming from inside again, and just as he was about to knock the door down, hand on the knob, side leaning against the door, he figured it was too cliché. These girls weren’t criminals, did they really plan everything thoroughly? So he opted to just turning the knob, in hopes it wasn’t locked.

As soon as the knob was spun, the door flung open and it took Harry mere seconds to spot Sky, her head drooped down, her body looking petite and weak on that hard cold chair. He spotted two other girls by the door, clearly confused as to what to do next, and so he snapped, “What have you guys done to her?!”

The tall, broad shouldered girl gulped, her expression looking as though she was going to break down any second, “I don’t know why I agreed to be here…” She whispered, her expression guilty, her foreign accent thick, “Sorry… I’m so sorry.” She added, before running off.

The brunette, however, seemed to be in shock for his appearance, and it took Harry to repeat the question until she turned back to reality. “Oh my God, what, I didn’t think she knew you this well-” she retaliated, confused by her own words, and quickly took off in humiliation.

Harry sighed, and immediately ran off to Sky’s direction. Her hands were tied behind the chair, so he quickly untied the knot, and brought her wrist in hand. There were little marks caused by the rope, and he realised she must’ve tried to flee badly. He walked on his knees over in front of her, bringing her wrists in hand, and gave each a little peck.

Sighing, he brushed away the strands of hair covering Sky’s pale face, before cupping her cheeks with his palms, ignoring the yolk that was making his fingers sticky. His shaking fingers began stroking her eyelashes, before moving down to her defined cheekbones. She needed to open her eyes. She had to.

“Harry…” His eyes quickly averted to her eyes again, only to be surprised that they were still closed. How badly was she hurting? After a moment, he then turned his head around, finally aware that the voice wasn’t Sky’s.

As he took in the sitting figure, his eyebrows raised when the girl raised her head, her face familiar. A mixture of feelings began to stir up in his stomach, a hint of surprise mixing with disappointment and ultimately, anger. He had half-hoped that Chloe had nothing to do with this, that she wasn’t crazy enough to want to hurt Sky, but the living proof in front of him made him feel betrayed. “Chloe… You did this?” He asked, his voice hoarse and scratchy.

Chloe didn’t seem to like his disappointed tone, and quickly opened her mouth. But then her eyes swiped over Sky, who was still laying helplessly, her cheek still red, and snapped it shut. Tears began to swell up in her eyes again, and she looked down at her hands, appalled by the fact she’d done it. She’d hurt Sky.

“I’m sorry.” Chloe finally said, wiping away the tears so Harry couldn’t see them. She felt embarrassed of even being in the room, and the fact that the boy she liked had saved Sky made everything crystal clear. That she was wrong. That Harry was never hers.

Harry didn’t say a thing, but as the figure stood up to approach the door, the thin line of his lips formed a question.

“Why did you do this?”

Chloe stopped mid-way, and her head turned slightly. She gave him a weak smile, her eyes blank, “Because I wanted too much.”

~~~~~

“Sky?” A soft voice called. A guy’s voice. “Sky… Can you hear me?”

Sky felt her hair tickle her forehead, as consciousness began to dribble back to her. Her eyelids began to flutter open, and she stared groggily around, taking in her location. The room was the colour of light gray, a poster of a cartoon version of John Mayer plastered on the wall. There were other things hung up too, like a family picture of a woman, a teenage girl, and a little boy.

”..Harry?” Sky heard herself whisper, taking in the curly haired boy sat on the edge of the king sized bed.

“Hi,” he responded, “you were asleep for quite a while.”

Sky’s eyes immediately averted to the clock on the nightstand. 5:34 pm. Had Harry saved her? She looked up at his face, her mouth slightly open, her eyes scanning his curls. Just as she was about to ask, her attention then went to her own, white, hair. “Oh my God!” She gasped, “Your bedsheets are going to smell like eggs now…”

“I figured,” Harry responded casually, laughing, “Would you like me to wash your hair?”

Before Sky could respond, she watched with flushed cheeks as Harry stood up, took her by the back and the back of her knee, carrying the bridal style. “Hey, I’m pretty sure I can walk,” she whispered, embarrassed, but Harry pretended not to hear.

After entering the grand bathroom, he then settled her down a little stool just on the other side of the bathtub, before rolling up his jeans up halfway to his calves. “Alright, how’s this going to work….” He mumbled, before going in into the empty, white bathtub. “Okay, well, Zayn gets creambaths often so I’d sometimes go with him when I need trimming… But yeah, I think this is how things are done in hairdressers.”

“Oh yeah, hairdressers sitting in bathtubs whilst the clients squat. Totally,” Sky said, laughing.

The next thing she knew, Harry was already spraying her dirty hair with cold water, his shivering fingers tracing her hair line slightly. Sky bit her lip, overwhelmed by his actions. For a brief moment no one spoke, and when Harry squirted shampoo and began massaging her head, she hummed, “Nice place, by the way.”

“Yeah? It gets a little too quiet sometimes, with everyone else having their own flats and all that,” Harry responded, grabbing her long wet locks.

“Where’s Louis?”

“Out with Eleanor,” he responded, chuckling. “He was here when I brought you in, very surprised of your new hairstyle…”

Sky nodded lightly, biting her lower lip. “Hey Harry?” She whispered, to which he responded with a “Yeah?”

“Thanks for… getting me out of the situation earlier,” Sky said, playing with her fidgety fingers.

There was silence for a moment, before Harry grabbed the shower and began washing away the shampoo. “It’s alright, I should’ve come sooner…” He mumbled, tracing her hairline again. “If I had, then maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as messy.”

“Don’t blame them,” Sky responded, her voice gentle. “One was just brought there by peer pressure.. She’s new and just wanted to fit in. The other one, well I can’t think of any reason to make Amy seem nice, but… Yeah.” She said, unamused by how lamely she’d finished her sentence.

Harry on the other hand, laughed, “You always find the positive in people.”

“I know, it can be a bad thing,” she shrugged.

“Maybe, but it’s nice… How you always seem to have hope in them,” Harry responded, turning off the shower. He then grabbed the towel, and as he was drying her hair, his mouth opened, tempted to ask one thing. “Do you.. hate her?”

Sky didn’t respond. For a brief moment, she paused, thinking, “No, of course not.” She replied, taking her now towel-covered head.

Harry smiled, as a wave of relief rush through him. He’d chosen the right one. After she stood up, her plated skirt creased and the collars of her uniform slightly wet, she turned around, “Thank you so much for today, for everythi-“

“-You’re not leaving just yet!” Harry responded quickly, getting up from the bathtub, careful not to slip. His tone was a little too overprotective for his own right, but it was too late now, since Sky was looking at him with a confused expression. “I mean, I can’t possibly let you go home with that massive bruise on your knee, and that cut on your lip!”

“Harry… The bruise really isn’t that massive…” Sky mumbled, looking down at her knee whilst laughing.

But it was too late, as Harry was already stomping down her way, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her back to his room. She sat awkwardly on her bed, whilst he took something from the drawer. “Now you may wonder why a 17 year old boy has a personal first-aid kit in his bedroom..” Harry mumbled, taking out the white box. “But if you’ve got a mum like mine, you’d be told that ‘accidents happen a lot in bedrooms’.”

Sky laughed at his cheeky statement, whilst Harry sat down next to her. He carefully brought her legs up on the bed, taking the cottonbud and pouring Betadine over it. “Might burn a little…” He mumbled as he tapped the bruise with the cottonbud, but Sky just stared in response.

Her face was just a few inches above from his head, and when he looked up to see why she didn’t whince, the back of his head bumped against her forehead. “Ow,” she cried in response, laughing lightly after, “That hurt more to be honest.”

Harry rubbed his head before looking at her face, his attention swiped on her bruised lip. “You mind?” He asked shyly, swinging a new cottonbud on his hand whilst pointing to the cut.

She shrugged in response, and as the cottonbud tapped against her lip, held by a slightly hand, her eyes closed in little pain. Harry quickly pulled away the bud and Sky’s eyes fluttered open. His eyes, though, were still set on her lips, and if it wasn’t for the little cut he would’ve kissed her by now.

So he settled for her forehead instead. He pushed away the hair that covered it, stroking the slightly blue spot caused by the egg, and gave it a light kiss. She looked surprised by his actions, but she remained still, the only thing moving was her hand, which was now gently place on his cheek.

“Hey, Sky…” Harry mumbled, his words beginning to slur, and as she stroked his cheekbone, he leaned into the touch. “I don’t think I’ve said this much, to anyone, and I’m beginning to think that I should…”

She laughed at his blabbering, before nodding in understanding, closing the gap between their foreheads by pressing hers against his. “So let me start with you,” his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth, before he opened his mouth again, his next words bold and sincere, “I love you.”

Sky’s heart did a summersault and a double backflip upon hearing the words, and after she returned his confession, with just as much sincerity, they stayed still, enjoying the lovely silence.

Chapter 27

Surreal.

That was it, the only word to describe how everything in Sky’s world felt right now. Surreal; how else could she describe the feeling of being able to hold hands with that one person, she’d always thought was out of her league?

Biting her lower lip slightly, her eyes fixed on the marble tiles of the building, she then felt a few strands of her hair tucked behind her left ear, as the two stopped on their tracks. She looked up, getting that hopeful feeling of finding his face in front of hers, due to finding everything surreal, which she forturnately always did. “Hm?” she hum-asked, whilst his finger lingered on the back of her ear.

“It was blocking your face.” He responded, blushing ever so lightly, before placing his left hand back to his side, his right still holding her left. She just made him blush. Skylar Gibson was capable of making Harry Styles blush.

So in order not to let out a sound like ‘OhfankyuHarsreh’ as if she had speech impediment because of the irritating butterflies in her stomach, she smiled. And he smiled back. And the butterflies seemed to have tripled. “Should we get going to the studio now? Your break’s about to be over,” Sky heard herself say, walking to the escalator that would lead them to One Direction’s studio in the production building.

Harry sighed, “Yeah, but I was hoping to spend more time with you.”

Sky smiled sheepishly, attempting to cover her flushed cheeks. He had invited her over to exclusively listen to the band’s newest songs for their second album, hopefully released sometime this year, and she’d immediately said yes. “Are you allowed to be late?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” he paused, a cheeky smile creeping up his face, “but I guess I could say I was with you?” He joked, raising his shoulders and grinning hopefully before Sky scrunched her nose.

“And let me get all the blame?” Sky mock-surprised, before grinning and clicking on her heel, spinning her body around. She skipped to the elevator, leaving Harry dumbfounded, as she climbed up the moving staircase. “Not if I get there first you’re not!” She shouted, and as she’d thought, Harry immediately grinned and began following her.

There they were, Sky sprinting and Harry chasing after her through the corridors of the building and eventhough she felt as though her long legs were going to fall off due to the rushing adrenaline, time felt to go by slower. And it felt nice. Her legs came to a stop in front of the door with a ‘One Direction’ sign plastered on it, and she quickly placed her palm there as if playing tag.

She was trying to catch her breath back when Harry’s body came crashing on to her, swinging her body up so her stomach laid helplessly against his shoulder. She was too tired to say anything, and settled with punching his back with her tiny fists and kicking her feet in the air.

“Wow, for a girl who’d eat her date’s meal during dinner, you sure are light.” he commented, and Sky felt a pang of awkwardness at the fact that he’d used the word date. He didn’t have to use the other word; He’d never dropped the bomb, and so she shook her head lightly so he wouldn’t notice, clearing all the thoughts away.

Then his hands that were previously firm on her back slid down slowly, before holding her waist as they put her back on her feet. He smiled, and she smiled back, and the butterflies were appearing again so she quickly turned around.

Then she saw the figure she’d longed to see, his red Vans tapping against the wooden floor along with a beat, his back moving slightly, and his blonde hair looking darker than usual due to the dim lighting. Sky glanced briefly at Harry, to which he responded with a smile and a nod, before walking to the figure and giving it a light tap.

Niall’s body whipped around almost immediately, and his eyes widened a little at her sight, but they calmly closed as she engulfed him in a hug. A hug that showed just how precious of a person he was to her.

It was a good day for one Skylar Gibson.

~~~~~

Harry gave himself a pat on the back after recording his solo for One Direction’s single. It took him a little less than an hour to get it done, very different from the previous times where he wouldn’t be easily satisfied, and he wondered if it was because Sky was there. Sure, she was catching up with Niall, but everytime Harry sang a perfect note she’d look in his eyes and give him two thumbs up.

Maybe she was his muse.

“Oh, her- Yeah, she’s a really lovely girl!” He heard Sky say in the midst of her conversation with the Irish blonde when the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. He glanced at the screen, paused for a brief moment before turning to Sky and mouthing a sorry that he had to pick up the call. Even if he really didn’t want to.

As soon as he got out from the studio, he shut the door behind him. “What’s up with the phonecall?”

There was a momentary silent, before the person at the end of the line let out a laugh; one that Harry had loved to hear just a few months ago. “I’m surprised you still have my number saved,” she spoke, her voice with no hint of sarcasm. “How have you been?”

Harry rolled his eyes. Surely there was a reason for Chloe Adlington to suddenly ring him? He wanted to cut all the crap and ask her what she’d wanted, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he felt the need to act mature - Sky had moved on from the accident, she’d forgiven Chloe, though that day was never forgotten - he would’ve had. When Chloe figured he wasn’t going to respond, she sighed. “It’s fine. Don’t forgive me, it’s reasonable; but I know Sky has, and that matters more.”

He remained silent, before mumbling a, ‘Uh-uh’, when she continued, “I’m downstairs, at the lobby of your studio. It’s on the way to the airport so I figured I could stop by.”

“I’m rather preoccupied,” Harry replied, only realising how jerk-like his attitude was after the words had escaped his lips. And then it dawned on him, and the next thing he knew, he’d heard himself ask, “…Airport?”

“I’m leaving London this evening.” Chloe responded curtly, and he didn’t know whether it was her tone or the short sentence itself, but it felt as though someone had just pulled a bandaid off his still wet cut. It didn’t hurt after a moment, but it was still appalling. He ran his fingers through his curls, nodding eventhough Chloe couldn’t see him, “Where to?”

Chloe exhaled. “Paris. For a couple of years.” There was a twang of relief in her voice, and Harry could imagine the smile she’d had on when she’d said that. “I got a ballet scholarship at a notable Performing Arts college there. Need to actually learn French first, but I reckon it’ll be okay. It’s a good thing. For everyone, but most importantly for me.”

Harry nodded yet again. She really was an excellent ballerina. Quite Black Swan-esque. “Yeah. It is. It’s a good thing.”

“Would asking you to wish me luck be a bit too much?” She asked, in fits of tiny giggles, and Harry then responded, after contemplating, “Don’t be silly. I wish you the best of luck.”

Chloe let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Harry, for everything. And I’m so, so sorry about all the stupid things I’ve done, not just to you but to Sky. She didn’t deserve any of that; she’s an amazing girl, but you’re probably aware of that already.”

Harry laughed. “I am, yeah, really am.”

With that, he then said his last goodbye to the girl he’d once been crazy about. Even as he heard the call getting cut off by Chloe, a smile was plastered on his face. Because what the blonde girl said was right.

Skylar Gibson was amazing.

And it was time.

He was officially going to make her his.

Chapter 28 Part I

Skylar Gibson put the chilly glass of lemonade on the wooden table, glancing at the window. Her attention then shifted to the vintage clock plastered on the pastel wall of the petit café she was in, the smell of newly baked buns tingling the tip of her nose.

It was the first days of summer, and even though London was still oddly windy in all its glory, Sky could see the sun coming. As if even one of the gloomiest cities in the world wanted to shine. Looking down at the table as she unknowingly smiled to herself, she felt the tips of her hair brush her exposed shoulders. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d woken up a few weeks ago with a huge urge to head to the hairdresser, but at the time, it had felt right. And it still did.

So many things could happen in a matter of months. The more she thought about it, the longer she felt 4 months had passed. Incidentally, One Direction had gone on a tour in the US, and it had felt extremely surreal for her to watch them grow. She was really, genuinely proud, even though she had yet to bring herself to say so. What was she, exactly? Sure, Harry had told her he loved her, and it had been a blissful moment, and it felt like they were officially together. He however had certainly made no mention of her whatsoever to the media, which was reasonable she’d supposed, but would it be very selfish of her if she was to say she wanted an acknowledgement?

Sky sighed at the thought, slightly shaking her head. These past few days, ever since she’d last seen Harry after his return from the US, her mind had been on constant loop, wondering just where they stood. The dinner they had was lovely, and he certainly looked as though he’d sincerely missed her, but then her confusion arose again as she watched him put on his beanie, hood and aviators on, before exiting the fancy restaurant.

It was beginning to feel like a game of tug of war, where she was pulled by his attraction and let go by his pride.

Her phone began to vibrate on the wooden table, and she’d thought it was Eva, her friend she was supposed to be meeting, before a very different name popped at the inbox notice. Harry.

Meet me in front of that French cafe on Oxford Str. at 1? :) Please please please tell me you can make it this time. I’ve missed you .xxx

And just like that: butterflies galore. She had always been secretly able to make their dates, most of the time at least, but Harry surely had no idea each time she had claimed she had a family gathering to attend - or was down with a mild yet contagious flu that needed no visit from him or else he could be infected thus fail his duty as an international popstar - she’d spent in her bed, moping around whilst her mind wondered how Harry’s worked.

Tapping her fingers against the table, she began typing a response: No aunt’s bday or hives detected today. Should be able to make it. :) I’ve missed you too xx

“Sky?”

Sky’s head whipped around at the mention of her name. Her eyes then landed on a familiar auburn haired girl. Except contrary to the girl she’d once known, the girl in front of her was oozing confidence, her long hair shining. It was curled at the end, and it complimented the emerald green dress she had on her pale, porcelain skin.

The two girls immediately engulfed each other in a big hug, as they slightly jumped up and down. Eva had taken an early leave from school after taking her end of semester exams in order to go on vacation to Florida with her family, and Sky hadn’t seen her since.

In no time, the two were engaged into fits of laughter in the midst of their conversation about year 12 and their upcoming senior year. Oddly enough, as opposed to most girls’ first topic, they had yet to cover the topic of boys. Just then, Sky’s gaze accidentally landed on the charm bracelet on Eva’s wrist, with one particular charm catching her eye. A clover.

Sky smiled at the realisation, and it was then when the other charms became clearer as well: a heart; a guitar; a book; and a slice of pizza. After introducing Eva to Niall Horan prior to One Direction’s tour in the US, Sky had heard the two hit it off well as friends, and there were certainly teases coming from the one and only Louis Tomlinson. Normally this situation would be seen rather cliché, with Niall’s previous attraction to Sky and what not, but that silly thought never crossed Sky’s mind. After all, she had always seen him as a brother; and ultimately, a best friend. He was an amazing person, and she couldn’t afford the risk of losing him just because she hadn’t been able to reciprocate his feelings. Looking at the charm bracelet now, though, Sky’s thought about the matter was long gone.

“Did Niall give you that?” Sky asked, a hint of playfulness in her voice. Knowing Niall was happy made her happy.

Eva evidently blushed, and straightened up in attempt to hide her nervousness. “Did the pizza give it away?” She asked, followed by the two’s laughs. Sky responded with a shrug, before Eva tucked her hair behind her ear. “Thank you… For introducing him to me.”

Sky looked up, a genuine smile tugging at the end of her lip. “You’re most definitely welcome. You two are happy together, right?”

“Well I am. Very much so.” Eva responded, and Sky felt a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders, replaced with the sincere happiness for her two friends.

The two chatted for some more, their stories mainly revolving around the two boys taking up the biggest space in each of their heads, one being Eva’s new boyfriend Niall, and the other, of course, being Harry, Sky’s whatever-he-was. Half an hour quickly passed, and before they’d both known it, Eva had to leave.

After staring blankly at her empty cup, Sky slowly stood up, packed her stuff, and began heading for the door, her head fixed on her Toms. She’d been too busy not caring about her surroundings as she got out of the cafe, her eyes on the concrete ground, before they met a pair of black, scruffed sneakers.

Looking up almost immediately, a man in his mid 30s met her gaze, his eyes oozing friendliness. “Lovely to meet you, Miss Gibson.” He spoke. It was not even noon and the man in front of her stood exhausted, the collar of his grey polo t-shirt covered with meat sauce. He opened the door to a fancy black car Sky hadn’t previously noticed existed behind him, and waved his hand inwards. “We’re rather falling behind schedule. Fret not though, my driving skills will get us there in no time.”

There? What there? “Uh… Who are- uh sorry, I actually have something planned out at noon-” Sky managed to let out, in the midst of confusion and fear she’d felt when the man’s hand landed on the top of her back, gently urging her to get in.

The man let out a friendly laugh, and Sky wondered if she’d heard right: what if it had been a sinister laugh? “I’m sure he won’t mind,” was the last thing she had heard before she’d found herself climbling in.